Tokyo stock prices closed Thursday below the postbubble low registered the previous day, affected by a continued fall on Wall Street and more dismal data on Japan's economy.
The 225-issue Nikkei stock average fell 41.31 points to close at 10,938.45. The broader Tokyo Stock Price Index of all first-section issues shed 12.28 points to 1,114.58.
"The prospect that the overall U.S. economy will recover within the year is weakening," said Toshihiko Matsuno, an investment adviser at Sakura Friend Securities Co.
In Tokyo, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry issued a preliminary report just before the opening bell that said Japan's industrial production fell a seasonally adjusted 2.8 percent in July from the previous month for the fifth straight month of decline.
The size of the decline was larger than market predictions and fueled selling of stocks, traders said.