Tokyo stocks open lower as yen rises

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened lower Wednesday after hitting a 25-year high the day before, as the yen firmed against the dollar and Wall Street's rally lost steam.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.53 percent, or 121.74 points, to 22,815.86 in early trade while the broader Topix index was down 0.30 percent, or 5.40 points, at 1,807.89.

"After the Nikkei index rose above benchmark levels in the past few days there is a sense of achievement in the market," said Hideyuki Suzuki, senior analyst at SBI Securities.

"As corporate earnings reports by big names such as SoftBank and Toyota are over, there are few market-moving factors remaining."

However, with a flood of money still seeking places to invest, the stock market may move into positive territory in later trading, he noted.

The dollar traded at 113.73 yen, down from 114.00 in New York.

On Tuesday, the Nikkei 225 index closed at a quarter-century high, rising by 1.73 percent amid easing concerns over geopolitical risks and expectations for sound corporate earnings.

On Wall Street, US shares opened higher and the Dow barely scraped into positive territory at the close of trading, rising a hair's breadth above Monday's close for a fourth straight record finish. The broader S&P was flat and the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 0.3 percent.

Toyota was up 1.14 percent at 7,265 yen after revising up its full-year net profit forecast higher thanks to a cheaper yen and cost-cutting efforts.

Nissan was down 0.63 percent at 1,104 yen ahead of its second quarter earnings report.