Tokyo shares open lower

TOKYO: Tokyo shares opened 1.0 percent lower on Thursday following a sharp fall on Wall Street overnight due to weaker-than-expected data on the health of the US economy.

The benchmark Nikkei-225 index opened down 95.69 points at 9,478.63.

"There is a growing perception that the US economic slowdown is not temporary but a long-term issue that may take a long time to resolve," said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager of SMBC Nikko Securities.

US stock markets fell sharply Wednesday, more than wiping out the prior day's gains as investors worried about weakening economic data and Greece's escalating debt crisis.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 178.84 points (1.48 percent) to finish at 11,897.27.

Investors faced a series of discouraging indicators. Inflation reached an annualised 3.6 percent in May, the Labor Department said, indicating that rising prices threaten to chew away at consumers' earnings.

Meanwhile a Federal Reserve report showed that manufacturing in the New York region fared worse than expected.

The dollar fetched 80.87 yen in early Tokyo trade, a shade lower than 80.92 yen in New York late Wednesday.

The euro remained weak, changing hands at $1.4183, unchanged from New York.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011