Tokyo stocks were lower Wednesday morning, weighed down by a fall in technology shares following overnight declines on Wall Street.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average fell 410.33 points, or 1.03 percent, from Tuesday to 39,428.58. The broader Topix index was down 13.27 points, or 0.49 percent, at 2,701.18.
The U.S. dollar moved little in the upper 151 yen range on a wait-and-see attitude ahead of U.S. employment data to be released later in the week, dealers said.
At noon, the dollar fetched 151.58-59 yen compared with 151.48-58 yen in New York and 151.67-69 yen in Tokyo at 5 p.m. Tuesday.
The euro was quoted at $1.0772-0776 and 163.28-35 yen against $1.0764-0774 and 163.14-24 yen in New York and $1.0741-0743 and 162.91-95 yen in Tokyo late Tuesday afternoon.
Stocks were mostly in negative territory throughout the morning, as technology shares weighed markets down following a sharp overnight fall on a key U.S. semiconductor index.
The Nikkei benchmark briefly lost over 600 points as a powerful earthquake off Taiwan, striking shortly before the Tokyo market opened and setting off a tsunami warning for the nearby southwestern Japanese islands, added to selling pressure, said Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities Co.
Sentiment was also dampened by a fall in U.S. stock futures, he added.
