Tokyo stocks open lower, dragged by high-techs
''Losses in semiconductor makers dampened market sentiment,''
biz.yahoo.com
Thursday February 4, 7:44 pm Eastern Time
Tokyo stocks open lower, dragged by high-techs
TOKYO, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Tokyo stocks opened lower on Friday, as a sharp setback in U.S. high-tech stocks dragged down Japan's semiconductor-related issues, such as Hitachi Ltd and NEC Corp , traders said.
The yen's recent rising trend against the dollar also weighed on shares in global manufacturers, they said.
At 0021 GMT, the Nikkei 225 average was down 90.98 points or 0.65 percent at 13,995.87.
Nikkei March futures were down 130 points at 14,020.
At 0029 GMT, Hitachi was down 20 yen or 2.6 percent at 748 and NEC was down 24 yen or 2.06 percent at 1,141.
''Losses in semiconductor makers dampened market sentiment,'' said Masatoshi Sato, manager at Kankaku Securities Co Ltd. A rally in these high-tech makers had supported the Nikkei average in recent months.
In the United States, the technology-laced Nasdaq composite index on Thursday plunged 83.34 points or 3.3 percent to 2,410.07, marking its third-largest point drop ever, as profit-takers took up recent gains on tech stocks.
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