Tokyo stocks open sharply lower on concerns about Fed policy

Tokyo stocks opened sharply lower Thursday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, on concerns the U.S. economy may slow after the minutes of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting indicated that the central bank will more aggressively fight rising inflation. In the first 15 minutes of trading, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average fell 501.76 points, or 1.83 percent, from Wednesday to 26,848.54. The broader Topix index was down 36.58 points, or 1.90 percent, at 1,886.33. The Tokyo bourse on Monday introduced the Prime, Standard and Growth markets to replace the four former trading segments -- F...