Tokyo, May 25 (Alliance News):Tokyo stocks drifted lower at the open Thursday, with investors alarmed by the lack of progress on US debt ceiling negotiations despite a looming deadline.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.10 percent, or 31.03 points, to 30,651.65 in early trade, while the broader Topix index lost 0.45 percent, or 9.77 points, to 2,142.63.
The dollar stood at 139.29 yen, against 139.43 yen in New York on Wednesday. On Wall Street overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.8 percent while the broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.7 percent and the tech-rich Nasdaq index declined 0.6 percent.
Investors were fretting over there being no sign yet of a debt ceiling deal in Washington, even as the June 1 deadline approaches. In Japan, “the market was seen starting lower following Wall Street falls,” Monex senior analyst Toshiyuki Kanayama wrote.
US stocks were dragged down by “a shortage of new information on the debt limit negotiations”, with traders “fed up with Washington’s bipartisan politics,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management added.
Among major shares, SoftBank Group inched down 0.03 percent to 5,056 yen in early trade, Sony Group sagged 1.28 percent to 13,015 yen and Toyota lost 0.38 percent to 1,949 yen. Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing trimmed 0.57 percent to 33,110 yen.