Automakers, oil firms drag Tokyo stocks lower by break

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks fell Tuesday morning with energy-linked firms slipping on lower oil prices and a stronger yen putting the brakes on automakers.

The Japanese market has slipped from nearly two-year highs this week while Wall Street retreated from records on Monday.

Investors were cautious ahead of the British general election on Thursday, after deadly terror attacks in London.

A European Central Bank meeting and testimony by ex-FBI director James Comey, whom President Donald Trump fired last month amid a probe of his campaign's ties to Russia, are also in focus.

"There is a strong sense of wanting to wait-and-see among investors ahead of former FBI director Comey's testimony and the UK elections," said Yutaka Miura, a senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities.

"With both US shares and Japanese shares trading near fresh highs, there's no need to jump on the bandwagon now, ahead of key events," he told Bloomberg News.

The Nikkei 225 was down 0.72 percent, or 144.37 points, at 20,026.45 by break, while the Topix index of all first-section shares fell 0.61 percent, or 9.84 points, to 1,600.13.

The dollar dipped to 109.76 yen from 110.48 yen in New York.

The stronger yen dented some exporting firms with automaker Toyota falling 0.48 percent to 5,939 yen and rival Nissan slipping 0.50 percent to 1,074.5 yen.

Petroleum-linked shares also dropped following another drop in crude prices.

Inpex lost 1.21 percent to 1,015.5 yen, Japan Petroleum Exploration fell 1.94 percent to 2,173 yen and refiner Idemitsu dropped 2.30 percent to 3,185 yen.