February 1, 2016 - 12:45 PM EST
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UPDATE1: Tokyo stocks flat in morning but oil price falls, stronger yen weighs

Tokyo
stocks were almost flat Tuesday morning, paring most of their earlier losses on an oil price fall overnight and the stronger yen.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average shed 0.53 point to 17,864.70. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was down 0.82 point, or 0.06 percent, at 1,461.85.

Decliners were led by iron and steel, mining and nonferrous metals issues.

Tokyo
stocks opened lower as crude oil futures fell back overnight and the yen's slight gains against the
U.S.
dollar hurt exporter shares, but the Bank of Japan's surprise policy easing last Friday continued to support sentiment and prompted buying on dips, traders said.

"Sliding oil prices and the yen's appreciation are grabbing investors' attention," said Chihiro Ota, general manager of investment research at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc.

Crude futures slipped Monday in

New York
, dipping to $31.62 per barrel and ending four consecutive sessions of rises on renewed oversupply concerns.

Ota said some investors also cashed in on the Nikkei's gains through Monday.

On the First Section, declining issues outnumbered advancing issues 1,004 to 818, while 111 ended the morning unchanged.

Resource-related issues slid on lower oil prices with Inpex slipping 51.00 yen, or 4.8 percent, to 1,001.50 yen and Idemitsu dropping 75 yen, or 4.1 percent, to 1,736 yen. JX Holdings shed 12.90 yen, or 2.8 percent, to 445.60 yen.

The yen's appreciation dragged down export-oriented issues with Mazda Motor dropping 67 yen, or 3.0 percent, to 2,172 yen and Nissan Motor down 20 yen, or 1.7 percent, at 1,192 yen.

==Kyodo

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Source: Equities.com News (February 1, 2016 - 12:45 PM EST)

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