Tokyo stocks open lower on US falls

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened lower on Thursday as Wall Street falls weighed on the market, with investors adjusting their positions ahead of the settlement of futures and options this week.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.69 percent, or 207.50 points, at 29,973.71 in early trade, while the broader Topix index slipped 0.60 percent, or 12.45 points, to 2,067.16.

"Investors dislike falls in US shares, and short-term, profit-taking selling is dragging down share prices," Mizuho Securities said in a note.

Tokyo shares end higher on stimulus hopes

Investors are adjusting their positions ahead of the settlement of futures and options, which "could limit falls in share prices," Okasan Online Securities said in a commentary.

Traders are also watching China's consumer prices in August due later in the day, analysts also said.

The dollar fetched 110.28 yen in early Asian trade, against 110.24 yen in New York on Wednesday.

In Tokyo, Canon was down 0.16 percent at 2,685 yen after a report it plans to buy a Canadian chip-maker for 30 billion yen ($270 million).

Trading house Mitsubishi Corp was up two percent at 3,552 yen after a brokerage firm revised up its evaluation of the shares. Nissan was down one percent at 582.6 yen after Renault's CEO said it won't merge with the Japanese carmaker.

Its bigger rival Toyota was down 0.2 percent at 9,917 yen.

On Wall Street, the Dow ended down 0.2 percent at 35,031.07.