Tokyo stocks lower as exporters, retailers slip

TOKYO, Aug 28 (Reuters) Tokyo stocks edged down on Tuesday after renewed concerns about the U.S. economy and credit led Wall Street down and the yen higher, prompting slides in exporters and retailers such as Aeon Co Ltd Videogame publisher Square Enix Co tumbled 8.2 percent to 3,360 yen after it said on Monday it would delay the launch of the latest version of its ''Dragon Quest'' game for Nintendo Co Ltd's DS portable game machine to sometime next year.

The yen rose against the dollar, trading at around 115.56 yen from 115.85 yen in late Monday U.S. trade, after U.S. data showed the number of unsold homes hit the highest in more than 15 years in July, adding to concerns about the housing market and consumer spending.

''We're certainly past the previous panic but concerns about the U.S. economy are set to linger for quite some time, making markets nervous,'' said Norhiro Fujito, general manager at the investment research and information division at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.

He said concerns about consumption had spilled over to Japan as well, hitting retailers, which were down 1.2 percent as a sector.

But a lack of strong trading factors and buying on dips was expected to keep the downside supported, with trade thin.

The Nikkei average was down 0.3 percent or 54.32 points at 16,247.07 as of 0114 GMT. The broader TOPIX index lost 0.5 percent to 1,580.68.

Aeon was down 2.3 percent at 1,672 yen, and other retailers also lost ground. Takashimaya was down 1.5 percent at 1,285 yen and Isetan, which last week announced it was buying rival Mitsukoshi Ltd, lost 1 percent to 1,613 yen.

High-tech exporters were hit as well, with Sony Corp down 1.5 percent at 5,330 yen and Hitachi down 2 percent at 740 yen.

Komatsu Ltd gained 1 percent to 3,590 yen after Credit Suisse said in a report on Monday it had raised its target price to 4,000 yen from 3,100 yen and kept its ''outperform'' rating, citing expansion in Chinese and European operations.

Reuters RKM VP0722