TOKYO: Tokyo stocks fell 0.63 percent Tuesday morning following a global equities sell-off on concern about deadlocked Greek debt talks while investors await the outcome of a Federal Reserve policy meeting later in the week.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange dropped 127.79 points to 20,260.00 by the break, while the Topix index of all first-section shares was down 0.74 percent, or 12.20 points, at 1,639.72.
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“The mood to step back and see what happens with the Fed meetings and the Greece negotiations won t be any different today,” Toshihiko Matsuno, chief strategist at SMBC Friend Securities, told Bloomberg News.
“As the time limit nears for Greece, negotiations aren t reaching a conclusion. Investors can t go long on Japanese stocks with abandon.”
After the collapse of talks at the weekend, both sides in the long-running Greek crisis were locked in a stalemate Monday, blaming each other for the impasse.
The European executive insisted the EU-IMF creditors had made “major concessions” but the anti-austerity government in Athens continues to reject what it views as “irrational” demands.
Greece must agree on a deal by the end of the month, when it is due to make a huge debt repayment, or else it faces a default that could lead to it plunging out of the eurozone.
