By DPA,
Tokyo : Japanese shares dropped more than one percent in Thursday morning trading following overnight falls on Wall Street as investors were concerned about higher oil prices amid ongoing conflict in major oil producer Libya.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 115.69 points, or 1.09 percent, to trade at 10,473.81 while the broader Topix index was down 12.18 points, or 1.29 percent, at 932.11.
Technology shares were hurt after the US technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.51 percent overnight.
Japan’s economy contracted at an annualized rate of 1.3 percent in the October-December quarter, the government said.
The figure, in line with analysts’ expectations, was revised down from a preliminary estimate of minus 1.1 percent, the first contraction in five quarters.
On currency markets at 9 a.m. (0000 GMT), the dollar traded at 82.82-86 yen, little changed from Wednesday’s 5 p.m. quote of 82.81-83 yen.
The euro traded at 1.3902-3906 dollars, flat from 1.3902-3904 dollars Wednesday, and at 115.17-19 yen, little changed from 115.12-16 yen.