japanese auto stocks fell in early trade on concerns that drawbacks of the yens depreciation such as higher costs for raw materials will outweigh benefits including possible greater profits for the countrys exporters toyota motor corp fell as much as 34 on monday while honda motor co and nissan motor co shed as much as 33 and 39 respectively a cheap yen is usually viewed as a positive catalyst for japanese auto stocks as it can drive export growth but there are growing market concerns about the currencys latest slide as it is occurring concurrently with higher commodity prices and supply shortages the yen has weakened by almost 15 this year against the us dollar so far this quarter the yen has fallen 96 against the us dollar heading for the currency pairs biggest quarterly drop since the fourth quarter of 2016 according to factset during the current phase of jpy depreciation the negative aspects of the weak currency especially the deterioration in household and corporate terms of trade have drawn attention in the markets and food and energy prices have soared on top of that barclays analysts said in a research note covid19 lockdowns in china one of japanese auto makers biggest markets could also weigh on demand for japanese cars citi analysts said in a note that japanese auto makers overall experienced declines in sales volume in may from a year earlier