Tokyo stocks lose ground in morning on yen's rise, subpar U.S retail data

TOKYO, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks lost ground Friday morning as the yen's rise against the U.S. dollar coupled with subpar U.S. retail data dented the market mood.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average dropped 253.44 points, or 1.20 percent, from Thursday to 20,886.27.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, lost 14.65 points, or 0.92 percent, at 1,575.16.

Food, nonferrous metal and service-oriented issues comprised those that declined the most by the morning break.