6:00AM New York, 8:00PM Tokyo - Automakers, Shipping lines and exporters drag Tokyo down 4.03% on the first day of trading in 2008.

Japan stock market averages traded in the red on the first day of trading of the year weighed down by heavy losses by automakers as the U.S. auto sales declined.

In Tokyo trading Nikkei 225 dropped 4.03% or 616.37 to 14,691.41, the first fall on the first day of trading since 2001, while the broader Topix Index slumped 4.3% or 63.77 to 1,411.91, the largest decline on the first day of trading since the creation of the index in 1949.

The market was only open for the morning session.

In the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange 14 billion shares valued at 1.7 trillion yen were traded and in the section 239 million shares worth 4.3 billion yen changed hands.

Of the stocks in Nikkei 225 index, 5 rose, 219 declined, and 1 was unchanged. Of the index stocks, 23 stocks shed 6% or more.

Sumco Corp led the decliners in the index with a fall of 9.9%, followed by Nissan Motor Corporation shedding 9.2% as the company and Toyota sold fewer cars in the U.S.

Other automakers fell as well. Isuzu Motors dropped 7.5% and Hino Motors Limited plunged 6.9%.

Automakers General Motors Corporation, Ford Motor Company and Toyota Motor Corporation and others reported yesterday that the Americans bought 16.1 million cars and trucks last year, the lowest in nine years.

Toyota Motor Corporations vice president for communications Irv Miller reported yesterday that the company sales fell from 228,322 vehicles from a year earlier to 224,399 vehicles in December. The company also displaced the Ford Motor Company as the second largest seller in the U.S. in 2007 as it sold 3.1% more cars in 2007 to 2.62 million.

However, the automaker reported its sales to the U.S. fell 1.7% in December and also cut its sales forecast for the U.S. market from the projected 3% gain to between 1% and 2%.

U.S. ADP Employers Services, private payroll processing services, reported yesterday that U.S. companies added 40,000 jobs in December compared to a 173,000 increase in November.

Of the Nikkei 225 index shares Sanyo Electric Company led gainers with a rise of 1.95% followed by rises in Inpex Holdings of 0.83%, in Japan Steel Work of 0.79%, in Nikko Cordial Company of 0.54%, and in Dainippon Sumitomo of 0.12%.

Inpex rose after crude oil prices for February delivery reached a record $100.09 per barrel on falling U.S inventories, persistent Middle East tensions, and no signs of a decline in demand from China, India, and the U.S.

Sumco Corporation led decliners in the Nikkei 225 index with a fall of 9.9% followed by losses in Nissan Motor Corporation of 9.2%, in Mazda Motor Corporation of 7.7%, in Mizuho Trust & Banking of 7.7%, and NGK Insulators of 7.6%.

Nissan Motor Corporation fell after it reported that the U.S. sales in December dropped 2.4%.

Shipping lines fell after the Baltic Dry Index, which gauges prices, slumped for the nine days in a row by 1.5% as China scaled back its iron ore imports. Kawasaki Kisen declined 7.10% and Mitsui OSK Lines plunged 5.40%.

Exporters also declined after the yen weakened from 109.39 to 109.40 against the dollar. Canon Inc climbed down 5%, Sony Corporation edged down 6.61% and Casio Computer declined 6.08%.

The Asahi newspaper, on its online publication, reported today that IHI Corp is investigated by the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission for falsifying earnings report. The company is expected to be fined 1.7 billion yen if proven guilty of wrongdoing.

IHI Corp in December announced significant revisions in the company’s earnings report for the fiscal year ended March 2007 as well as in the six-month period ended September 2006.