TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened lower on Thursday as rising US bond yields worried investors, although overnight gains on Wall Street provided some support.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.50 percent, or 145.03 points, to 29,110.52, while the broader Topix index lost 0.27 percent, or 5.42 points, to 2,022.25.
The dollar stood at 114.32 yen, nearly flat from 114.33 yen seen Wednesday in New York.
"Exporter shares are likely to come under pressure on concerns over rising US long-term bond yields," Okasan Online Securities said.
Tokyo stocks open higher extending US gains
The trend weighed on tech shares in the United States, with the Nasdaq down 0.1 percent at the close, which "led to the selling of major shares in Tokyo", Okasan added.
However, the brokerage pointed to the relative stability of the Topix after the rest of Wall Street ended broadly higher, with the Dow and S&P 500 in the black.
Economically sensitive stocks, such as steel, chemical and paper, may attract investors, Okasan said.
"On the back of the gains in US shares, a wide range of Tokyo shares are expected to find buyers," it said.
The market also was monitoring news related to troubled Chinese developer Evergrande, which is expected to resume trading in Hong Kong from Thursday.
Evergrande said its efforts to sell a stake in its property services unit had failed.
The company said it would continue to implement measures to ease its liquidity issues, cautioning that "there is no guarantee that the group will be able to meet its financial obligations".
Among major Tokyo shares, tech investor SoftBank Group dropped 1.13 percent to 6,636 yen. Advantest, a maker of testing tools for semiconductors, fell 1.84 percent to 9,080 yen.
Major paper producer Oji Holdings added 0.36 percent to 564 yen. Its smaller rival Nippon Paper Industries firmed 0.34 percent to 1,181 yen.
Nippon Steel gave up gains and fell 0.38 percent to 1,979 yen.
Fast Retailing, which operates the Uniqlo fashion chain, shed earlier losses and added 0.11 percent to 75,580 yen.
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