Japanese stocks drop; dollar up vs. yen

Japanese stocks slipped Thursday, with losses in real estate and banking shares offsetting gains in consumer electronics and semiconductor makers.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index lost 30.40 points, or 0.17 percent, to 17,498.60 points on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. On Wednesday, the index rose 0.09 percent.

Real estate and banking shares moved lower after the government released figures showing the economy had slowed to a 2.4 percent pace in the first quarter, due mostly to a decline in capital investment.

Losers included Mitsubishi Estate Co., which fell 0.52 percent to 3,800 yen ($31.40) and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. shed 1.85 percent to 1.06 million yen ($8,760.33).

Sony Corp. rose 2.63 percent to 6,630 yen ($54.79) after it said Wednesday it is forecasting a record net profit of 320 billion yen ($2.64 billion) for the current financial year through March 2008, even though its net loss for the January-March quarter widened.

The broader Topix index, which includes all shares on the exchange's first section, slipped 4.62 points, or 0.27 percent, to 1,707.27 points.

In currencies, the U.S. dollar was trading at 120.83 yen at 2:50 p.m. Thursday, up from 120.74 yen late Wednesday in New York. The euro rose to $1.3526 from $1.3520.