Tokyo stocks open lower after tech sell-off on Wall St

Tokyo - Tokyo stocks opened lower on Tuesday after a Facebook data breach scandal sent US stocks sharply down.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 169.27 points to 21 311.63 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was down 11.43 points at 1 708.54.
"Japanese shares will likely fall again today with selling prevailing after the sharp falls in US stocks," Okasan Online Securities said in a commentary.

Buying on dips would be limited before a public holiday in Japan on Wednesday as well as the US central bank's policy meeting to be wrapped up on Wednesday, it said.

On Wall Street, technology companies tumbled Monday following reports that the data analysis firm hired by Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign stole information from 50 million Facebook user profiles to help design software to predict and influence voters' choices.

The scandal sparked worries that it will lead to a regulatory crackdown on technology companies.

Telecom carrier and IT investor SoftBank Group fell 0.92% to ¥8 546 while Japan's top e-commerce firm Rakuten dropped 0.60% to ¥907.9.
Sony fell 1.92% to ¥5 044 and Panasonic sank 1.94% to ¥1 616.5.

The dollar was trading at ¥106.00 against ¥106.10 in New York on Monday.