Tokyo stocks open lower on Wall St. losses after rate hike

Tokyo stocks opened lower Thursday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, after the Federal Reserve continued raising interest rates and Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled the central bank will continue to fight inflation.

In the first 15 minutes of trading, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average fell 152.81 points, or 0.56 percent, from Wednesday to 27,313.80. The broader Topix index was down 16.47 points, or 0.84 percent, at 1,946.46.

Decliners were led by precision instrument, pharmaceutical and insurance shares.

At 9 a.m., the U.S. dollar fetched 131.16-19 yen compared with 131.45-55 yen in ...