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| - Tokyo stocks opened lower on Tuesday as investors refrained from active buying a day after rights to receive dividends expired. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.44 percent or 104.57 points at 23,407.05 in early trade, while the broader Topix index slipped 0.72 percent or 11.91 points to 1,650.02. "Japanese shares are seen falling due to the impact of the expiration of rights to receive dividends," Toshiyuki Kanayama, senior market analyst at Monex said in a commentary. But the downside was supported by rallies on Wall Street where high-tech shares in particular gained, analysts said. NTT Docomo was overwhelmed by buy orders in early trade while its parent NTT was down 4.81 percent at 2,185.5 yen after reports said NTT plans to make the mobile phone firm a 100-percent-owned unit through a public tender offer. Both companies said they would announce if any such decision is made at a board meeting later in the day. Among exporters, Panasonic was down 1.30 percent at 909.8 yen, Canon was down 0.87 percent at 1,766 yen and Toyota was off 0.86 percent at 7.117 yen. But electronic parts maker Rohm was up 2.55 percent at 8,040 yen and Sony was up 0.43 percent at 8,214 yen. The dollar fetched 105.45 yen in early Asian trade, against 105.56 yen in New York late Monday. Wall Street stocks enjoyed a winning session, with the Dow finishing up 1.5 percent at 27,584.06. kh/sah/jah
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