Summary The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange dropped 127.79 points
TOKYO (AFP) - Tokyo stocks fell 0.63 percent Tuesday morning following a global equities sell-off on concern about deadlocked Greek debt talks while investors await the outcome of a Federal Reserve policy meeting later in the week.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange dropped 127.79 points to 20,260.00 by the break, while the Topix index of all first-section shares was down 0.74 percent, or 12.20 points, at 1,639.72.
"The mood to step back and see what happens with the Fed meetings and the Greece negotiations won t be any different today," Toshihiko Matsuno, chief strategist at SMBC Friend Securities, told Bloomberg News.
"As the time limit nears for Greece, negotiations aren t reaching a conclusion. Investors can t go long on Japanese stocks with abandon."
After the collapse of talks at the weekend, both sides in the long-running Greek crisis were locked in a stalemate Monday, blaming each other for the impasse.
The European executive insisted the EU-IMF creditors had made "major concessions" but the anti-austerity government in Athens continues to reject what it views as "irrational" demands.
Greece must agree on a deal by the end of the month, when it is due to make a huge debt repayment, or else it faces a default that could lead to it plunging out of the eurozone.
The lack of progress weighed on European markets while Wall Street also turned down. The Dow slipped 0.60 percent, the S&P 500 fell 0.46 percent and the Nasdaq lost 0.42 percent.
The Fed on Wednesday wraps up its latest policy meeting, with investors hoping for some new guidance on its plans for interest rates following a broadly upbeat string of data on the US economy in recent weeks.
And on Friday the Bank of Japan concludes its own meeting, which will be pored over to see if and when it will expand its already massive monetary easing programme to kickstart sluggish growth and inflation.
In Tokyo share trading, Toyota was down 0.69 percent at 8,351 yen, Japan s biggest bank Mitsubishi UFJ lost 1.62 percent to 875.1 yen, while rival Mizuho Financial Group fell 1.75 percent to 258.8 yen.
On forex markets, the dollar strengthened to 123.58 yen from 123.38 yen in New York.
