Tokyo stocks drop from the bell as overseas bourses retreat, yen firms against U.S. dollar

Tokyo stocks opened lower Tuesday, as major overseas bourses loosing ground coupled with the yen's firmness against there U.S. dollar made for a dour market mood.

As of 9:15 a.m., the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average dropped 255.60 points, or 1.54 percent, from Monday to 16,288.96.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, fell 22.00 points, or 1.65 percent, to 1,313.84.

With the exception of mining issues, all industry categories on the main section retreated into negative territory, with banking, insurance and securities-linked stocks leading the decline. Endit