Stocks in Tokyo fell Friday on concerns of an economic downturn in the United States, Japan's largest export market, and as investors sold stocks to lock in profits after this week's jumps, DPA reported. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 67.35 points, or 0.41 per cent, to close at 16,248.97 after rising 2.6 per cent Thursday. The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also down 5.96 points, or 0.37 per cent, at 1,585.85. Concerns over the US economy grew after the chief executive officer of the largest US mortgage lender, Countrywide Financial Corp, said in a television interview that the US economy might be headed toward recession over the crisis caused by losses linked to US subprime, or high-risk, home loans. Those losses have led to plummeting stock pricesaround the world, and Angelo Mozilo called it "one of the greatest panics" he had seen. Despite Friday's falls, both Japanese indices saw big jumps for the week. The Nikkei surged 6.4 per cent, its biggest weekly rise since October 2002, and the Topix rose 7.1 per cent, its biggest such gain since March 2002. On currency markets at midday (0300 GMT), the dollar was quoted at 116.40-45 yen, up from Thursday's 5 pm quote of 115.91-94 yen. The euro was quoted at 1.3568-73 dollars, up from Thursday's 5 pm quote of 1.3538-41 dollars.
