Chinese and Tokyo shares open lower

Chinese shares open lower:

Beijing- Chinese stocks opened lower on Friday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 0.67 percent, at 2,988.2 points.

The smaller Shenzhen index opened 0.76 percent lower at 10,425.01 points, Xinhua news agency reported.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China’s NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, lost 0.79 percent to open at 2,230.95 points.

 

Tokyo stocks open lower:

Tokyo- Tokyo stocks dropped from the off on Friday as the yen once again catapulting to a fresh 17-month high versus the US dollar dented the outlook for key exporter issues and dragged sentiment lower.

As of 9.15 a.m. (local time), the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average dropped 172.62 points, or 1.10 percent, from Thursday to 15,577.22, Xinhua news agency reported.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, fell 11.99 points, or 0.94 percent, to 1,260.65.

Notable early decliners comprised mining, iron and steel, and insurance-linked issues.