Summary In forex markets, the dollar fell to 112.35 yen from 112.43 yen in New York on Wednesday
TOKYO (AFP) - Tokyo shares fell early Thursday, sliding for a second day following losses on Wall Street and as a dip in oil prices hammered energy stocks.
US equity markets ended lower on Wednesday after petroleum-linked shares and service companies tanked on lower oil prices, driven in part by another surge in US commercial crude stockpiles.
Most US travel stocks fell again a day after the deadly Brussels bombings claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group left 31 dead and 270 injured.
"Investors aren t feeling risk-on enough to pile into Japanese shares," Mitsushige Akino, executive officer at Ichiyoshi Asset Management, told Bloomberg News.
"Extreme global risk-off sentiment has diminished and now people are turning neutral again -- however there s a limit to how much buying demand there is."
Tokyo s benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 0.72 percent, or 122.89 points, to 16,878.09 about 30 minutes after the opening bell, after closing 0.28 percent lower on Wednesday.
The broader Topix index of all first-section shares fell 0.95 percent, or 12.93 points, to 1,351.27.
Tokyo-listed oil stocks were slammed in early trading, with energy explorer Inpex down more than four percent and JX Holdings off more than 3.5 percent. Steelmaker JFE Holdings dived more than four percent.
On Wall Street, the Dow closed 0.5 percent lower on Wednesday, S&P 500 slipped 0.6 percent and the Nasdaq slumped 1.1 percent.
In forex markets, the dollar fell to 112.35 yen from 112.43 yen in New York on Wednesday.
