Tokyo stocks open lower on profit-taking

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened lower on Thursday on profit-taking, tracking losses on Wall Street.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 1.25 percent or 370.86 points at 29,188.24 in early trade, while the broader Topix index slipped 0.92 percent or 17.53 points to 1,887.01.

"Japanese shares are seen falling on profit-taking as investors were disheartened by falls in US stocks," said Okasan Online Securities chief strategist Yoshihiro Ito.

The dollar fetched 107.00 yen in early Asian trade, against 106.96 yen in New York late Wednesday.

In Tokyo, electronics-linked shares were lower, with Sony trading down 2.56 percent at 11,040 yen and Panasonic off 0.86 percent at 1,391 yen.

Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest was down 1.46 percent at 8,790 yen and chip-making equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron was off 1.38 percent at 42,990 yen, On Wall Street, tech shares were hammered amid lingering worries over inflation, with the Nasdaq slumping 2.7 percent, as investors monitored rising Treasury yields and digested disappointing economic data.

The Dow ended down 0.4 percent at 31,270.09 while the broad-based S&P finished down 1.3 percent.