Tokyo stocks opened lower Wednesday after a mixed close on Wall Street as lingering recession fears caused a rout on European bourses.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.79 percent, or 209.58 points, at 26,213.89 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was down 0.69 percent, or 12.94 points, at 1,866.18.
A slumping euro and tumbling European stocks overnight due to concerns over European economies “affected the post-holiday US shares”, which in turn weighed on the Tokyo market, Okasan Online Securities said in a note.
In New York, the Dow fell as recession fears pounded petroleum-linked equities, but tech shares rallied, with markets eyeing the possibility of smaller interest rate hikes in light of the weakening economic outlook.
With no other market-moving events and ahead of the release of minutes from the US Federal Reserve meeting in June, due later in the day, “a wait-and-see attitude may grow” in late Tokyo trade, senior market analyst Toshiyuki Kanayama of Monex added.
The dollar fetched 135.57 yen in early Asian trade, against 135.87 yen in New York on Tuesday.
Among major shares in Tokyo, Shionogi was off 1.79 percent at 6,859 yen even as a report said its new pill to treat Covid-19 will be discussed for approval again by health ministry experts later this month.
Other pharmaceuticals were higher, with Daiichi Sankyo trading up 2.05 percent at 3,530 yen, and Chugai up 1.01 percent at 3,607 yen.
Toyota was down 1.87 percent at 2,077 yen, Sony Group was off 1.35 percent at 10,955 yen, and Uniqlo casual wear operator Fast Retailing was down 2.23 percent at 68,720 yen.
Telecoms firm KDDI was up 0.56 percent at 4,328 yen after it said it has restored all of its communication services following a technical glitch that affected millions of customers.