国际英语新闻：Nikkei closes down 2.04% at fresh 7-month low

Sony Corp. relinquished 3.7 percent to 2,296 yen, not helped by the fact the company announced it will recall 535,000 Vaio personal computers because they may overheat due to a temperature control defect.

Canon Inc. fell 3.2 percent to 3,225 yen and Kyocera Corp. dropped more than 3 percent to hit a seven-month low, while Advantest Corp. slipped more than 4 percent, its lowest in almost 12-months.

Among Japanese automakers, Honda Motor Co. Ltd. declined 3.3 percent to 2,512 yen and Toyota Motor Corp. lost 2.3 percent to 3, 010 yen, despite a report from an industry body Thursday revealing that sales of new cars in Japan rose 20.6 percent in June from a year earlier, marking the 11th straight month of increase, as government subsidies for eco-friendly cars spurred domestic demand.

China's manufacturing expanded at a slower pace for a second month in June and related issues duly retreated.

Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. Ltd. dropped 2.6 percent to 1,613 yen and Komatsu Ltd. fell 1.7 percent to 1,591 yen.

Bucking the downward trend Thursday, Bridgestone Corp. advanced 1.1 percent to 1,430 yen and Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. climbed 3.7 percent to 817 yen.

The Japanese tiremakers had their stock rating lifted to "neutral" from "sell" by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

On Thursday some 1.76 billion shares changed hands on the Tokyo exchange's First section, down from Wednesday's volume of 1.86 billion, with declining issues outnumbering advancing ones by 1, 342 to 254.