Tokyo stocks open softer ahead of Wall St return

TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) -- Tokyo stocks opened softer on Tuesday, with Sony Corp and and other expensive technology shares under modest pressure amid caution ahead of Wall Street's return later in the day.

U.S. stock markets were closed on Monday for Memorial Day.

"With most foreign buyers on the sidelines due to New York's holiday, it's not surprising to see us come off a bit at the open," said Tatsuyuki Kawasaki, director of equities trading at Kaneyama Securities.

"Brokerage dealers are waiting to buy on dips, however, so we shouldn't lose too much ground."

Electronics titan Sony fell 0.55 percent to 7,290 yen by 0010 GMT, helping push the benchmark Nikkei average down 0.56 percent or 67.51 points to 11,908.84.

The capital-weighted TOPIX index gave up 0.38 percent to 1,127.64.

Looking ahead, Wednesday's industrial production data as well as next week's gross domestic product (GDP) data for the January-March quarter are both expected to confirm a cyclical recovery in Japan, providing the market with support.

Mitsubishi Corp slipped 1.84 percent to 962 yen after Japan's biggest trading house said on Monday it would issue 150 billion yen in nine-year convertible zero coupon euro bonds, tapping the equity market for the first time since 1987.

A convertible bond issue is often seen as negative for a company's shares since it is likely to dilute per-share value.

Ailing builder Kumagai Gumi Co Ltd emerged as the morning's top winner, jumping 16.0 percent to 29 yen.

On Monday Kumagai said it scored a group net profit of 2.55 billion yen ($20.43 million) for the latest business year, in the black for the first time in nine years.