TOKYO AP Japanese stocks fell Tuesday as the collapse of a mid-sized builder fanned fears about the country's debt-ridden construction industry. The dollar dropped against the yen. The benchmark 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average slipped 48.29 points or 0.32 percent closing the day's trading at 14835.41 points. On Monday the Nikkei closed down 185.69 points or 1.23 percent. The U.S. dollar bought 122.78 yen down 1.04 yen from late Monday in Tokyo and also below its late New York level of 123.26 yen overnight. In the biggest bankruptcy by a general contractor so far this year Tokyo-based JDC Corp. said it filed for court protection with debts totaling 407 billion yen dlrs 3.3 billion from failed golf course development and other projects. JDC went under after banks cut its credit life lines something that traders said could happen to other struggling construction companies as Japanese banks grapple with massive loads of bad loans on their books. A top government official said that more collapses were inevitable as Japan cuts red tape and opens industries such as construction and banking to greater competition. ``General contractor bankruptcies and other phenomena will have to continue for a while won't they'' Taichi Sakaiya the director-general of Japan's Economic Planning Agency asked rhetorically at a regular press conference. That helped drive the Nikkei subindex of construction companies down 1.1 percent. While shares in JDC were suspended the day's biggest decliner was another mid-sized contractor Daisue Construction Co. which saw its stock price plunge 14 percent. An estimated 387 million shares traded on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange down from Monday's 397 million. Declining issues outnumbered gainers almost three to one. The Tokyo Stock Price Index of all issues listed on the first section was down 1.24 points or 0.11 percent to 1142.26 points. The TOPIX closed down 14.85 points or 1.28 percent the day before. In currency markets the U.S. dollar fell following an overnight decline on Wall Street traders said. The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 9116.55 on Monday down 216.53 points or 2.3 percent. ``The margin of fall in the Dow was quite big'' said Yukihiko Hashimoto senior manager of the treasury and funding department of Sanwa Bank Ltd. Among those selling the dollar were U.S. hedge funds and Japanese institutional investors traders said. During Tokyo trading the greenback ranged as high as 123.07 yen and as low as 122.53 yen. Meanwhile the yield on the benchmark No. 203 10-year Japanese government bond rose to 1.140 percent from Monday's finish of 1.040 percent driving its price down to 105.68 yen from 106.59. UR; mef-dj APW19981201.0001.txt.body.html APW19981201.1330.txt.body.html