Japanese shares slid, with the Topix Index (TPX) falling the first time in four days, amid concern the U.S. Federal Reserve may scale back stimulus and China may step up tightening. Resource stocks fell after commodity prices dropped the most in three months. Inpex Corp. lost 2.2 percent to lead declines among oil producers. Fanuc Corp., which supplies robotics used in Chinese factories, declined 2.4 percent. GS Yuasa Corp., which makes batteries for Boeing Co., jumped 7.4 percent on optimism the planemaker is preparing fixes for battery problems that grounded the 787 Dreamliner. Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. gained 0.8 percent on a report its unit will cut a fifth of its workforce. The Topix lost 1.2 percent to 961.79 as of 1:58 p.m. in Tokyo, with about two shares falling for each that gained and all but two of the gauge’s 33 industry groups declining. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 1.4 percent to 11,313.41. “Oil prices, much like other financial markets, are being hit by the negative news about a possible decline in stimulus,� said Masaru Hamasaki, chief strategist at Toyota Asset Management Co., which oversees about 1.79 trillion yen ($19 billion). “The Fed needs to discuss how it will eventually end its stimulus program, but at this stage a roll back will be taken negatively by investors,� Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.1 percent today. The equity gauge fell 1.2 percent in New York yesterday, the biggest drop since November, as minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee’s Jan. 29-30 meeting showed policy makers were divided about the strategy behind Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s program of buying bonds until there is “substantial� improvement in a U.S. labor market. Oil, Metals Drop West Texas Intermediate oil dropped for a second day, extending the biggest decline in three months, the London Metals Exchange Index (LMEX) of six industrial metals fell for a fourth day, retreating 0.9 percent. Copper for delivery in three months lost as much as 0.8 percent to $7,900 a metric ton. Stocks linked to China fell today after the nation’s State Council told local authorities to “decisively� curb real estate speculation and take steps to rein in the property market, stopping short of imposing fresh measures after prices rose the most in two years last month. The Topix surged 35 percent since Nov. 14, when national elections were announced, amid optimism Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the central bank will lead the country out of deflation. The measure is trading at 1.1 times book value, compared with 2.1 for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and 1.5 for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. The Nikkei Stock Average Volatility Index slid 4 percent to 26.08 indicating traders expect a swing of about 7.4 percent of the benchmark gauge over the next 30 days. Volume on the measure was about 24 percent lower than its 30-day intraday average at the time. To contact the reporter on this story: Anna Kitanaka in Tokyo at akitanaka@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: John McCluskey at j.mccluskey@bloomberg.net

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