Tokyo stocks slipped Wednesday morning after the government announced that Japan's economy shrank 0.1 percent during the quarter that ended Dec. 31. The dollar was down against the Japanese yen and the euro. The Nikkei Stock Average of 225 selected issues fell 7.99 points, or 0.07 percent, to 11,638.50 at the end of morning trade. On Tuesday, the index added 14.29 points, or 0.12 percent.
The dollar was trading at 104.68 yen at 11 a.m. Wednesday, down 0.36 yen from late Tuesday in Tokyo but above the 104.42 yen it bought in New York later that day.
Stocks fell after the Cabinet Office said Japan's gross domestic product -- the value of goods and services produced in the nation -- contracted 0.5 percent in annualized terms in the October-December period.
The GDP numbers, updated and seasonally adjusted, showed three straight quarters of contraction.
Many investors were taking a wait-and-see stance ahead of a testimony later Wednesday by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, while others collected profits from the Nikkei's recent gains.
On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the broader TOPIX, which includes all issues on the market's first section, fell 1.42 points, or 0.12 percent, to 1,166.77 points early Wednesday. The TOPIX dipped 0.42 point, negligible in percentage terms, the day before.
In New York Tuesday, U.S. stocks gained on retail sales growth.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 46.19 points, or 0.43 percent, to 10,837.32, its best close since Dec. 28. The Nasdaq composite index gained 6.30 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,089.21.
In currencies, the dollar remained lower against the yen and the euro after its weakness in New York, where investors sold the U.S. currency ahead of Greenspan's scheduled testimony.
The euro rose to $1.3009 Wednesday morning in Tokyo from $1.2961 late Tuesday but was down at 136.16 yen from 136.18 yen.