Tokyo Stock Prices Fall Amid ‘Mad Cow’ Fears

HONG KONG — Prices in Tokyo dipped Thursday after Wall Street’s losses amid fears of “mad cow” disease. Most other Asian and European markets were closed for Christmas.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index shed 5.92 points, or 0.06%, to close at 10,365.35. On Wednesday, the index lost 1.24 points, a negligible percentage drop.

Investors took cues from Wall Street’s Wednesday declines. U.S. stocks fell after American authorities announced the country’s first suspected case of “mad cow” disease.

The Dow Jones industrial average edged down 36.07 points, or 0.4%, to 10,305.19 in a half-day Christmas Eve session on Wednesday in New York. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index dipped 5.55, or 0.3%, to 1,969.23.

Wall Street trading will resume today with another shortened session.

On Thursday, Tokyo traders sold exporters Canon, Sony and Toyota Motor, while shares of restaurants serving beef continued to slide on “mad cow” worries. Japan is the largest importer of American beef.

McDonald’s Japan lost 4.6%, and Yoshinoya -- known for its “beef bowls” of sliced beef over rice -- ended down 2.6%.

McDonald’s Japan uses Australian beef, but traders sold its stock on fears that reduced supply could push up Australian beef prices and increase the fast-food chain’s procurement costs.

The dollar fell against the Japanese yen. The dollar traded at 107.18 yen late Thursday in Tokyo, down 0.15 yen from late Wednesday in Tokyo and below the 107.28 yen it fetched in New York late Wednesday.

In Taipei, Taiwan, prices were pulled down in a lackluster session by selling of makers of flat-panel screens. The weighted price index snapped a three- session winning streak, closing 4.17 points, or 0.07% lower, at 5,853.70.

Analysts said investors also remained sidelined by worries over Taiwan-China tensions.

In Bangkok, Thai shares fell after new measures were announced to deter speculation on stocks of companies undergoing restructuring. But the main index’s fall was cushioned by gains by banking and energy shares. The Stock Exchange of Thailand index slipped 1.74 points, or 0.2%, closing at 721.65.

Markets were closed for the Christmas holiday in London; Paris; Frankfurt, Germany; Hong Kong; Jakarta, Indonesia; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Manila; Seoul; Singapore; Sydney, Australia; and Wellington, New Zealand.