Tokyo - Tokyo stocks opened 0.12 percent lower on Thursday as market players awaited the Bank of Japan's policy decision.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange opened down 10.35 points at 8,870.81.
A two-day policy meeting of the Bank of Japan (BoJ) was to wrap up Thursday, after the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank (ECB) did not announce new measures in earlier meetings.
Kenichi Hirano, operating officer at Tachibana Securities, said the BoJ policy meeting outcome “will be closely watched, but I think the effects are likely to be limited”.
“Like the ECB and the Fed, markets can be disappointed, but expectations for additional easing steps down the road still remain,” he added.
The BoJ is expected to refrain from taking additional easing action on Thursday, a poll of economists showed, given the solid recovery in the domestic economy and calm in financial markets.
The euro bought $1.2370 and 97.01 yen in early Asian trade, compared with $1.2363 and 96.99 yen in New York late Wednesday.
The dollar was quoted at 78.42 yen against against 78.45 yen.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 13,175.64, a gain of 7.04 points, or 0.05 percent, on Wednesday. - Sapa-AFP