Nikkei tumbles on Greek 'No' vote, yen's rise; Toshiba dives

Published 06-07-2015, 07:36 am
© Reuters.

* Toshiba dives 5 pct on renewed fears on accounting errors

* ECB's safety net likely limit contagion - analyst

* Kuroda's comment on stimulus triggers hopes for ETF buying - analyst

By Ayai Tomisawa

TOKYO, July 6 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average fell on Monday, with financial stocks and exporters leading the declines, after Greeks overwhelmingly rejected austerity measures demanded in return for bailout money, throwing the euro zone into turmoil.

The Nikkei share average .N225 was down 1.4 percent at 20,242.79 points by mid-morning, after falling to as low as 20,195.76 earlier.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group 8306.T and Mizuho Financial Group 8411.T fell 2.5 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively.

As the euro slumped in reaction to the Greek referendum, the safe-saven yen rallied to 121.700 yen JPY= against the dollar, from 122.775, dragging down exporters.

Honda Motor Co 7267.T shed 1.8 percent and Panasonic Corp 6752.T declined 2.2 percent. The dollar last stood at 122.59 yen.

"This is a serious problem for Greece. However, most people think the impact to the global economy and Japanese stocks is limited," said Norihiro Fujito, senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Securities.

"Unlike the European crisis in 2011 and 2012, the ECB has set up an important safety net this time."

ECB policysetters are likely to maintain emergency funding for Greek banks at its current restricted level, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday.

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the BOJ will monitor market developments in the wake of Greece's decision. He also reiterated that the bank will maintain its massive monetary stimulus for as long as needed to achieve its 2 percent inflation target.

"Since Kuroda made a comment about the stimulus, there are expectations that the BOJ will buy exchange-traded funds this afternoon if the market stays low," Fujito said.

Underperforming the market was Toshiba Corp 6502.T , which dived 5 percent on fears that a probe into past accounting practices was finding more irregularities than previously expected.

A source familiar with the matter said on Saturday that Toshiba may need to mark down past earnings by over 100 billion yen ($818 million), more than double earlier estimates.

The broader Topix .TOPX dropped 1.2 percent to 1,631.75, with all of its 33 subsectors falling.

The JPX-Nikkei Index 400 .JPXNK400 shed 1.2 percent to 14,741.01.

(Editing by Kim Coghill)

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