Tokyo stocks open down 0.47%

Tokyo stocks opened 0.47 percent lower on Thursday, tracking falls on Wall Street after US data showed the economy unexpectedly shrank in the last quarter of 2012.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 52.39 points at 11,061.56 at the start.

The Tokyo market shrugged off the gains in Japan's industrial output for December released 10 minutes before the opening bell.

The nation's factory production rose 2.5 percent from the previous month thanks to brisk production of cars and semiconductors, according to the industry ministry, but the gain missed market expectations of a 4.0 percent expansion.

The Nikkei is likely to remain range-bound on Thursday after the prior session's 2.28 percent rise to its highest closing level in nearly three years, as a weak yen helped send the market soaring, dealers said.

"The market is set to consolidate, with the yen looking little moved from Wednesday, while overnight US markets slipped," SMBC Nikko Securities general manager of equities Hiroichi Nishi told Dow Jones Newswires.

However he discounted the headline drop of 0.1 percent in US quarterly gross domestic product.

"The numbers will likely be treated as a bit of a one-off, as they masked stronger consumer and business spending and progress in the housing recovery." Nishi said.

Wall Street dipped on Wednesday, with the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average slipping 0.32 percent to 13,909.65.

In currency markets, the dollar was changing hands at 91.06 yen in early Asian trade Thursday against 91.05 yen in New York Wednesday afternoon.

The euro was at 123.55 yen and $1.3570 against 123.54 yen and $1.3564 in US trade.