Tokyo stocks opened lower Thursday as sentiment was dented by an overnight decline on Wall Street amid an unexpectedly tight race between Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. midterm elections.
In the first 15 minutes of trading, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average fell 270.20 points, or 0.97 percent, from Wednesday to 27,446.23. The broader Topix index was down 14.38 points, or 0.74 percent, at 1,935.11.
On the top-tier Prime Market, decliners were led by rubber product, mining, and oil and coal product issues.
At 9 a.m., the dollar fetched 146.17-22 yen compared with 146.31-41 yen in New York and 145.50-53 yen in Tokyo at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
The euro was quoted at $1.0018-0020 and 146.43-51 yen against $1.0007-0017 and 146.52-62 yen in New York and $1.0064-0065 and 146.45-49 yen in Tokyo late Wednesday afternoon.
