The Tokyo equities markets were lower on Thurdsay, with both the Nikkei 225 and the Topix index dropping 0.2 percent, to 16,350.02 and 1,619.02 respectively. Both export-focused and domestic sectors were instrumental in the declines.

Stocks in technology sectors were hit by bad news out of the United States, including declines in the semiconductors sector and weak manufacturing figures for October. Advantest dropped 1 percent to ¥5,750. In the electronics sector, Matsushita dropped 1.6 percent to ¥2,415, while Pioneer fell 2.9 percent to ¥1,791. Camera manufacturer Canon, meanwhile, was 0.5 percent lower to ¥6,280.

Sectors related to metals were lower on dropping prices for raw materials, as both the non-ferrous metals and metals products sectors were 0.4 percent lower on the session. Sumitomo Metal Mining dropped 1.4 percent to ¥1,530.

The real estate sector was 0.5 percent lower as a whole, with Mitsui Fudosan falling 0.7 percent to ¥2,860.

Gainers included Suzuki Motor, which added 2.4 percent to ¥3,420 on a positive quarterly report and an upgraded full-year prediction.

Bridgestone was even on the day at ¥2,445 on a report of a decline of 34 percent in operating profits in the third quarter. Higher raw materials prices were to blame. The tire maker’s share price was initially lower after the report, but an unchanged full-year forecast helped regain the losses.

Equities markets in Tokyo were down on Tuesday on a general weakness in shares in both domestically focused and export-dependent sectors, as well as on uneasiness ahead of any announcement from the Bank of Japan‘s meeting on Thursday. The Nikkei 225 closed down by 1.1 percent to 15,726.02, while the Topix index dropped 0.5 percent to 1,617.87.

Real estate was down 1.8 percent as a sector, with Mitsui Fudosan dropping 1 percent to ¥2,410 and Mitsubishi Estate down 1.6 percent to ¥2,415.

The retail sector dropped 0.6 percent, as did banking. In retail, Seven and I lost 0.4 percent to ¥4,480. Banker Mitsubishi UFJ declined by 0.6 percent to ¥1,670,000.

Electric utilities were down, as well. Tokyo Electric Power dropped 2.2 percent to ¥3,090 when Merrill Lynch downgraded it from “buy” to “neutral”. Kansai Electric lost 2 percent to ¥2,730.

The precision machinery sector as a whole was down 1.1 percent, with Olympus dropping 2.2 percent.

Softbank was down 8.5 percent to ¥3,140 when Standard & Poor’s put it on credit watch on the news that Softbank is in discussions toward purchasing UK telecommunications company Vodafone, which S&P sees as potentially putting too great a financial burden on Softbank.

Bucking the negative trend, automobile manufacturer Suzuki gained 3 percent to ¥2,565 on the news that General Motors will sell most of its stake in Suzuki.