Nikkei opens weaker on insurer's woes

TOKYO, Japan -- Tokyo stocks opened weaker Thursday, following on from a softer Wall Street close ahead of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.

Also weighing on the market was the news that Taisei Fire & Marine Insurance Co Ltd filed for court protection, rekindling fears of more corporate bankruptcies.

Automakers were weaker, as were some tech stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 average was down 62.64 points or 0.59 percent at 10,598.44, while the broader capital-weighted TOPIX index fell 3.38 points or 0.32 percent to 1,055.26.

"Weak factors abound for Tokyo. New York was softer, we've got this Taisei news, and we are heading into the three-day weekend," Hiroichi Nishi, a general manager at Nikko Cordial Securities, told Reuters news agency.

Non-life insurers were mostly lower. Sector leader Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Co Ltd was down 2.59 percent to 940 yen.

NTT results due later

Other factors in Tokyo include the latest batch of bank results and expectations that telco giant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT) probably slipped into the red in the first half, hit by a massive write-off on its acquisition of U.S. Internet firm Verio.

NTT will release its September half results Thursday afternoon.

Leading chipmaker Toshiba, which has risen strongly in recent days, fell marginally, down 2 yen to 533 yen. Chip and computer maker Fujitsu Ltd was up 18 yen or 1.8 percent to 1003 yen.

Hitachi was also higher, up 7 yen or 0.77 percent to 915 yen, while consumer electronics giant Sony dipped 150 yen or about 2.6 percent to 5590 yen.

Banking giant Mizuho Holdings moved ahead, adding 1.45 percent to 350,000 yen, while rival UFJ Holdings was also up, putting on just 0.22 percent to 451,000 yen. MTFG and Sumitomo Mitsui were weaker.

Automakers weaken

Among automakers, leader Toyota was again up, putting on 110 yen or 3.3 percent to 3220 yen, while No. 2 carmaker Nissan lost 28 yen or 4.5 percent to 575 yen and third-ranked Honda eased 3.1 percent or 150 yen to 4560 yen.

Other markets in the region were also marginally weaker, with New Zealand and Korea essentially flat in early trade and Australia off about a third of a percent.

In Seoul, the Kospi was virtually unchanged, down less than 1 points to 614.70. There was a similar situation in New Zealand, where the Top 40 index lost 0.92 points to 2023.14.

Australia's S&P/ASX200 was down 9.5 points or 0.3 percent to 3326.8.

The moves in Asia followed a weaker close Wednesday in the U.S ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, with the Dow Jones industrial average down 66.7 points or 0.67 percent to 9834.68 and the Nasdaq composite off 5.46 points or 0.29 percent to 1875.05.

Reuters contributed to this report.