Japan Stocks Fall on China Manufacturing; Honda Slumps

Japanese stocks fell, with the Nikkei 225 Stock Average declining the first time in five days, after China’s manufacturing teetered on the edge of contraction in July and as companies from Honda Motor Co. and Komatsu Ltd. missed profit estimates.

Komatsu, which gets about 14 percent of sales from China, sank 7.1 percent after the world’s second-biggest maker of construction equipment cut its annual profit forecast. Honda, Japan’s third-largest carmaker by sales, slipped 5.7 percent as it joined Nissan Motor Co. in reporting earnings that trailed estimates. Nomura Holdings Inc. slid 2.2 percent as Japan’s No. 1 brokerage faces penalties after staff leaked information on at least three share sales in 2010.