TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened 0.30 percent lower on Wednesday, tracking a lacklustre performance on Wall Street.

The Nikkei-225 index slipped 46.95 points to 15,749.01 at the start. Investors are waiting for the outcome of the Bank of Japan´s two-day policy meeting which wraps up later Wednesday.

US stocks ended Tuesday in mixed fashion after a stream of generally unimpressive earnings reports and a modest upgrade to the International Monetary Fund´s economic forecast.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.27 percent to 16,414.44 while the broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.28 percent to 1,843.80.

The dollar was at 104.20 yen early Wednesday, compared with 104.32 yen in New York Tuesday afternoon.

The euro fetched $1.3560 and 141.32 yen against $1.3559 and 141.46 yen. Shares in troubled microchip maker Renesas Electronics tumbled 2.93 percent to 596 yen in the first few minutes of trading after media reports that it plans to slash an additional 5,400 domestic employees, or about 20 percent of its workforce, by end of March 2016.

SOURCE: AFP