Tokyo stocks open slightly lower on U.S. Dow fall, rate hike pessimism

Tokyo stocks opened modestly lower Thursday, dragged down by an overnight decline on the U.S. Dow Jones index after the Federal Reserve signaled potential further interest rate increases following its pause in June.

In the first 15 minutes of trading, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average fell 78.28 points, or 0.23 percent, from Wednesday to 33,424.14. The broader Topix index was down 5.46 points, or 0.24 percent, at 2,289.07.

Decliners included pharmaceutical, bank and rubber product shares.

At 9 a.m., the U.S. dollar fetched 139.95-98 yen compared with 140.05-15 yen in New York and 139.98-140.0...