Japan stocks open lower over Greek default fears

Tokyo stocks opened slightly lower in early trading on Thursday amid ongoing concerns about the risk of a Greek default.

At 9.15 a.m., the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average was down 55.84 points, or 0.28 percent, from Wednesday to 20,163.43. The broader Topix index of all first section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange shed 5.00 points, or 0.31 percent, to 1,628.70.

Decliners were led by oil and coal products, insurance and air transport issues, Xinhua reported.