Tokyo - Tokyo stocks opened lower Thursday as investors sold shares to lock in profits from previous day's gains.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average, which gained more than 2 per cent the previous day, ended morning trading at 13,093.89, down 161 points, or 1.21 per cent.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also down 19.89 points, or 1.56 per cent, at 1,257.38.

On currency markets at 9 am (0000 GMT), the dollar was quoted at 109.47-52 yen, up from Wednesday 5 pm quote of 108.32-33 yen.

The Japanese drug maker major Daiichi Sankyo is all set for acquisition of majority shares in Ranbaxy Laboratories. The company has received approval of Sebi and FIPB to push the deal.

The Japanese major can invest its $4.6 billion in the Ranbaxy laboratories. Earlier, the company has acquired over 15% stake of Ranbaxy. It had announced to buy 34.8 per cent shares at the face value of Rs 737 per share. It has shown interest to buy 20 per cent additional stakes in the company.

Hiroshima (Japan), Aug.6 : The Japanese city of Hiroshima marked the 63rd anniversary of the world''s first nuclear attack on Wednesday, even as the country hoped the next US president would work for the abolition of all atomic weapons.

Some 45,000 people, including Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, gathered at a memorial to the dead within sight of the A-bomb dome, a former exhibition hall burned to a skeleton by the bomb''s incinerating heat on August 6, 1945.

Tokyo - Some 45,000 people Wednesday attended the memorial ceremony to commemorate the 63rd anniversary of the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima by the United States.

Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba pledged at the ceremony "to do everything in our power to accomplish the total eradication of nuclear weapons."

Akiba stressed the majority of the states across the world supported the abolition of nuclear weapons, while expressing hope that the next US president would "listen conscientiously to the majority."

Last year 170 nations voted in favour of a resolution introduced at the United Nations by Japan, calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons. Three nations, including the United States, opposed it.

Tokyo - Japan's key Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose more than 2 per cent Wednesday on the overnight rebound in the US market.

The Nikkei index rose 287.24 points, or 2.22 per cent, to 13,201.9.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also up 22.22 points, or 1.78 per cent, to 1,269.93.

The Tokyo market sentiment was boosted in morning trading after the US Federal Reserve's assessment that US economic activity expanded in the second quarter helped an overnight rise on Wall Street.

Tokyo - Toyota Motor Corp was