Tokyo stocks open lower

Tokyo - Tokyo shares opened lower on Wednesday after two days of gains, weighed down by lower oil prices and the yen's uptick on weak US consumer confidence data.

"The rhythmic rise in Japanese stocks has to take a breather," said Chihiro Ohta, a Tokyo-based senior strategist at SMBC Nikko Securities.

"The weaker US consumer sentiment data gives a reason for the yen to strengthen, weighing on stocks," he told Bloomberg News.

A stronger yen erodes Japanese exporters' profitability.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index dropped 48.59 points, to 17 316.66, a day after hitting a six-month high.
The Topix index of all first-section issues was down 2.12 points, to 1 375.20.

The dollar bought ¥104.13, down from ¥104.40 in Asia on Tuesday afternoon.

US Conference Board figures released on Tuesday showed consumer confidence in the world's biggest economy declined in October following two months of gains.

Shares in Kirin Holdings rose 0.74% to ¥1 752.5 after the group said it was discussing with the Coca-Cola group cross-shareholdings and a tie-up in the soft-drinks business.

Oil explorers dropped in line with crude prices, with Inpex falling 1.85% to ¥979.7.

Honda was down 0.69% at ¥3 124 while Sony fell 0.60% to ¥3 310.

Nintendo rose 0.52% at ¥24 815 before the game giant releases April-September results later on Wednesday.