Tokyo stocks open lower before U.S. inflation data

Tokyo stocks opened lower Thursday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, with investors growing cautious ahead of the release of U.S. consumer price index data later in the day.

In the first 15 minutes of trading, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average fell 131.83 points, or 0.41 percent, from Wednesday to 32,072.50. The broader Topix index was down 4.52 points, or 0.20 percent, at 2,278.05.

Decliners were led by precision instrument, electric appliance and rubber product shares.

At 9 a.m., the U.S. dollar fetched 143.70-73 yen compared with 143.70-80 yen in New York and 143.24-26 yen in Toky...