TOKYO - Tokyo stocks fell Wednesday morning as Wall Street's overnight slide prompted concerns about the U.S. economy and the effect on Japan's fragile recovery. U.S. dollar slipped down against the Japanese yen.
The Nikkei Stock Average of 225 issues was down 111.04 points, or 1.02 percent, to 10,788.21 points at the end of morning trading. On Tuesday, the index lost 78.64 points, or 0.72 percent.
The dollar bought 102.74 yen at 11 a.m. (0200 GMT) Wednesday, down 0.42 yen from late Tuesday in Tokyo and below the 102.95 yen it bought in New York later that day.
Stock prices moved lower as concerns about Japan's economy, sparked by October's drop in industrial output announced Tuesday, were compounded by worries about the U.S. outlook amid signs of slumping consumer confidence.
Automakers Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. were among morning losses, as did telecoms KDDI Corp. and NTT Corp. High technology issues Advantest Corp., Nikon Corp. and Sony Corp. also declined.
The index of all issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section lost 8.66 points, or 0.79 percent, to 1,090.13 points. The TOPIX shed 4.81 points, or 0.44 percent, the day before.
On Wall Street, U.S. stocks headed lower Tuesday after government economic data showed a fourth straight monthly decline in U.S. consumer confidence -- a troubling trend for Japanese exporters right before the holiday shopping season.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 47.88, or 0.46 percent, at 10,428.02. The Standard & Poor's 500 index shed 4.75, or 0.40 percent, to 1,173.82. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index also fell 10.06, or 0.48 percent, to 2,096.81.
In currency trading, the dollar rose against the euro to US$1.3298 late Wednesday morning in Tokyo from US$1.3240 late Tuesday. The European currency had hit an all-time high against the dollar overnight in New York, rising to US$1.3334.
Against the yen, the euro rose to 136.65 yen from 136.61 yen.
In bond trading, the yield on Japan's benchmark 10-year government bond was unchanged from late Tuesday at 1.4450 percent and priced at 100.47 points.