Tokyo, March 23 (DPA) Japanese stocks fell in Wednesday morning trading after overnight losses on Wall Street and profit-taking following sharp gains in Tokyo the previous day.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 153.26 points, or 1.6 percent, to trade at 9,455.06 while the broader Topix index was down 6.99 points, or 0.81 percent, at 861.14.
Tokyo stocks opened lower with blue-chip shares down after the Nikkei soared 4.36 percent and the Topix 4.54 percent Tuesday, following some progress in resolving the ongoing crisis at Fukushima 1 nuclear power station, damaged by the March 11 earthquake and following tsunami.
On currency markets at 11 a.m. (0200 GMT), the dollar traded at 80.93-96 yen, down slightly from Tuesday's 5 p.m. quote of 81.02-03 yen.
The euro traded at $1.4167-4170, down from $1.4234-4235 Tuesday, and at 114.65-70 yen, down from 115.33-37 yen.