Tokyo stocks open flat

Tokyo stocks opened flat on Wednesday with persistent concerns over Greece's debt crisis and a looming US "fiscal cliff" of spending cuts and tax hikes. The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange was down 0.01 percent, or 0.78 points, at 8,660.27 at the start. The Nikkei is likely to lack a clear direction Wednesday as external uncertainty weighs, while bargain-hunting provides some support, said Hideyuki Ishiguro of Okasan Securities. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 56.67 points (0.44 percent) at 12,758.41. "Weakness seen in the New York market is likely to persist in Tokyo trading hours," Ishiguro told Dow Jones Newswires. The euro, which fell to a two-month low of $1.2662 briefly on Tuesday, edged up to $1.2713 in early Asian trade from $1.2703 in New York late Tuesday. The European single unit also rose to 101.00 yen from 100.85 yen in US trade while the dollar firmed to 79.45 yen from 79.38 yen.