2013.03.2803:57:15UTC+00Japan stocks shrink, with banks, car shares slumped

Japanese stocks started lower Thursday, with banks leading the dropped as global markets awaited the scheduled reopening of banks in Cyprus. The Nikkei Stock Average diminish 0.3% to 12,457.99, and the Topix also backed down 0.3%, with Mizuho Financial Group Inc. declining 1%, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. off track 1.2%, and Shinsei Bank Ltd. decline 0.9%. Car stocks also gave ground, as Honda Motor Co.  trade 0.8% lower, while Mazda Motor Corp. downturn 1.8% and Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. each decrease 0.5%. Shares of Mitsubishi Motors Corp. concede 3.9% after reporting two malfunction incidents with batteries made in a joint venture with GS Yuasa Corp., shares of which continues to be untraded. Weak February retail-sales data ahead of the open was unsuccessful to dent retailer shares, which mostly traded larger. Shares of Aeon Co. outclassed with a 2.4% jump after saying it would buy an additional stake in supermarket operator Daiei Inc., shares of which skyrocketed 14%. Among the blue-chip tech shares, Sony Corp. gave up 2.3%, and Sharp Corp. relinquish 3.6%.