Japan's Nikkei Stock Average tumbled 1.17%
or 101.01 points to 8,552.81 on Tuesday as Fitch and Moody's sceptically
evaluated the outcome of previous week's EU summit. Exporters, including car makers
and technology stocks, led the drop in the index. Sony Corp. lost 2.6% and Chiyoda
Corp. traded down 4.68%. Honda Motor Co. declined 2.9% and Mitsubishi Motor
dropped 2.17%. On the upside was Olympus Corp. which gained 5.38%.