Tokyo stocks open lower on profit-taking

Tokyo stocks were lower Thursday morning, as profit-taking offset hopefulness spurred by positive vaccine news.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index edged down 0.18 per cent or 47.46 points to 26,753.52 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was up 0.10 per cent or 1.71 points at 1,775.68.

"Purchases on hopes for the development of new coronavirus vaccines and profit-taking sales are having a mixed effect on the market," Okasan Online Securities chief strategist Yoshihiro Ito said.

The dollar fetched 104.50 yen in early Asian trade against 104.41 yen in New York late Wednesday.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed the "fantastic" news that the UK's independent medicines regulator has approved a vaccine just 12 months after the pandemic began in China, while urging the public to remain cautious as England exited a four-week lockdown and re-imposed regional curbs. But European and US investors largely shrugged off the news, which was already baked into valuations, and the Tokyo markets followed suit.

In Tokyo, automakers were higher following reports the Japanese government will ban new gasoline cars around the mid-2030s, with Honda trading up 0.72 per cent at 3,069 yen and Toyota up 1.33 per cent at 7,173 yen.

Elsewhere, Sony was down 0.42 per cent at 9,578 yen and Sharp was down 1.15 per cent at 1,374 yen, while Canon was up 1.05 per cent at 1,965.5 yen.

Chip-linked shares were mixed with chip-making equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron rallying 1.85 per cent to 37,530 yen while chip-testing equipment maker Advantest slipped 0.40 per cent to 7,520 yen.

On Wall Street, the Dow ended up 0.2 per cent at 29,883.79 and the broader S&P closed up 0.2 per cent while the tech-rich Nasdaq ended down 0.1 per cent.