TOKYO – Tokyo stocks opened 0.48 percent lower on Thursday following falls on Wall Street, weighed by the persistent strong yen against other measure currencies, dealers said.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange opened down 43.35 points at 9,001.71 in the first minutes of trading.
“Worries about the ability of the US economy to recover, as well as the yen’s resulting rise, continue to constitute a ‘double whammy’ for Japan stocks,” Tatsunori Kawai, chief strategist at kabu.com Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.
“Coming in the middle of earnings reporting season when trading volumes traditionally fall, this can easily enhance volatility,” he said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Wednesday with a loss of 0.75 percent at 12,835.06, after European Union officials confirmed that Greece would get the next instalment of bailout funds.
Early worries that the EU would deny the country its scheduled 5.2 billion euro ($6.7 billion) payout sent US stocks tumbling more than one percent, but officials said Athens would get at least 4.2 billion euros.
The dollar was quoted at 79.69 yen in early morning trade in Tokyo, compared with 79.62 yen in New York late Wednesday.
The euro was trading at $1.2935 and 103.09 yen, compared with $1.2944 and 102.98 yen.