Japanese stocks lost ground Thursday morning, after investors sold industrial machinery maker Kubota following a report that plant conditions may have contributed to dozens of deaths among the company's workers. The dollar rose against the yen but was down against the euro. The Nikkei 225 Index fell 21.18 points, or 0.18 percent, to 11,556.26 points at the midday break. The index rose 63.63 points, or 0.55 percent, to close at 11,577.44 points on Wednesday. It was the index's highest close since April 13. Stocks opened slightly lower following Wall Street's drop Wednesday but climbed back as the dollar's rise above the 110 yen level helped exporter issues such as Toyota Motor Corp. Those gains, however, were pared by a big sell-off of Kubota Corp. after the Yomiuri newspaper reported Tuesday that 79 people who worked at the company's plants producing asbestos-based products such as pipes and building materials between 1978 and 2004 may have died from cancer and other job-related diseases. The health concerns made investors nervous about a possible lawsuit, traders said. On Wednesday in New York, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 31.15, or 0.30 percent, to 10,374.48. The Nasdaq composite index fell 1.00, or 0.05 percent, to 2,068.89. U.S. stocks finished lower as investors anxiously awaited the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates and looked past an increase in U.S. oil inventories and a solid advance in the gross domestic product. The TOPIX index, which includes all issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section, fell 0.47 point, or 0.04 percent, to 1,176.01 points Thursday morning. The TOPIX rose 6.38 points, or 0.55 percent, on Wednesday.