Tokyo stocks open lower on virus worries

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened lower on Wednesday following falls on Wall Street, as worries over a surge in virus infections at home and abroad weighed on the market.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 1.56 percent or 455.19 points at 28,645.19 in early trade, while the broader Topix index fell 1.47 percent or 28.23 points to 1,898.02.

"Japanese shares are seen lacking an upward drive on concerns over expansion of coronavirus infections that sent US shares down," Okasan Online Securities said in a commentary.

"At home, the government is reportedly planning to declare a state of emergency in Tokyo, Osaka, and Hyogo (west of Osaka), flattening the hopes of an early economic recovery," it added.

The dollar fetched 107.88 yen in early Asian trade, against 108.08 yen in New York late Tuesday.

In Tokyo, Toshiba dropped 4.25 percent to 4,165 yen after the firm said British private equity fund CVC would pause its buyout proposal of the Japanese company to await guidance.

Suzuki Motor was down 3.02 percent at 4,428 yen after a report said it will cut output further by 10,000 units in Japan due to shortage of semiconductors.

Other automakers were also lower, with Toyota trading down 1.38 percent at 8,302 yen, Honda off 1.71 percent at 3,218 yen and Nissan down 2.55 percent at 543 yen.

Chip-linked shares were also lower, with Renesas Electronics -- which aims to fully recover production capacity from a fire at its plant sometime next month -- trading down 3.01 percent at 1,256 yen and chip-making equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron down 1.53 percent at 48,150 yen.

IT and investment giant SoftBank Group was off 0.49 percent at 1,429.5 yen after a report said its net profit for the year that ended March is likely to be above four trillion yen ($37 billion) thanks to rises in global share prices.

On Wall Street, the Dow ended down 0.8 percent at 33,821.30.