Tokyo stocks end down thursday

Tokyo stocks ended down Thursday in response to a weak Wall Street overnight that was weighed down by an uncertain economic outlook in the US, with the Nikkei Stock Average finishing the day at 8,682.15, down 90.39 points, or 1.03%. The widespread view that Germany and France have large disagreements over how to tackle the sovereign debt crisis in Europe also weighed on investor sentiment. Trading value on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell under 900 billion yen for the fourth straight day. Short-term players, however, aggressively traded Olympus Corp. (7733) and Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501), which combined accounted for 13% of all trades on the TSE''s first section. While a lack of domestic incentives caused tepid morning trading, overall weak Asian stocks weighed on the Tokyo market in the afternoon, with the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index hitting a new low for the year. Futures selling led the benchmark Tokyo index down to the upper-8,600 range, a drop of 100 points, before buyers jumped in, limiting the index''s downward pressure. Some electronic component makers sharply dropped on concerns about Thai flooding.