Japanese shares open 0.80% lower

TOKYO – Japanese shares opened 0.80 percent lower Monday pressured by Wall Street losses on disappointing company earnings and recent firmness of the yen, brokers said.

The benchmark Nikkei index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange opened down 77.64 points at 9,571.13.

US stocks dropped Friday as investors weighed disappointing company earnings and a firmer dollar against the euro.

Greece’s debt crisis weighed on the equities markets amid speculation that Athens will need an additional bailout.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped a hefty 100.17 points (0.79 percent) to finish at 12,595.75, while the broader S&P 500 index slid 10.88 points (0.81 percent) to 1,337.77.

Official data released before the market’s opening showed that Japan’s core machinery orders, a leading indicator of corporate capital spending, posted a surprise rise in March despite the devastating earthquake and tsunami.

The core private-sector machinery orders grew 2.9 percent from February, beating market expectations of a fall of more than nine percent due to the severity of the March 11 disaster.

The dollar was bought at 80.73 yen, compared to 80.71 yen in New York late Friday.

The euro fell to $1.4080 from $1.4108 in New York.