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When the floors closed, the index had fallen by 0.2 per cent, which was the same amount the Topix index fell by.
The losses of the Nikkei can be in part attributed to the announcement at the start of the week that EU leaders would delay their decision about what they planned to do about the debt crisis in the region.
Speaking to Bloomberg, general manager at Tokyo-based Chuo Mitsui Asset Management Naoteru Teraoka commented: "The market was hoping for something concrete to come out of Europe on the debt problem, but with the cancellation of the meeting, there's a concern there may be disagreements among the leaders."
At 07:28 BST, the Nikkei 225 was valued at 8,748.47 points, significantly lower than the 52-week high of 10,891.60 reached in February this year.
Posted by Greg Secker
