Tokyo stocks open flat, Takata dives on bankruptcy fears

Tokyo stocks opened flat Thursday, but troubled airbag supplier Takata dived by more than half as it appeared to be headed for bankrutpcy court.

The Japanese market took a lead from overseas equities with a slump in oil prices hitting energy shares.

Global markets mostly tumbled on Wednesday, with petroleum equities among the worst hit as crude dropped on worries about excess supply and ineffectual OPEC policy.

"With lack of (other) market movers, there is a tug-of-war between falls in crude prices as a negative factor and resilient expectations for demand for high tech (US shares) as a positive factor," Juichi Wako, a senior strategist at Nomura Holdings told Bloomberg News.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.02 percent, or 4.76 points, to 20,134.03 in morning trade, while the Topix index of all first-section issues edged up 0.11 percent, or 1.72 points, to 1,613.27 yen.

Takata shares plummeted by more than 50 percent to 115 yen on fears the troubled airbag maker is headed for bankruptcy and plans to sell its assets to a US company.

Oil explorer Inpex was down 1.49 percent at 1,022.5 yen while crude-linked JXTG Holdings fell 0.62 percent to 475.1 yen.

Toshiba fell 0.99 percent to 319.9 yen, a day after the troubled conglomerate said it will hold exclusive talks with a consortium of US, South Korean and state-backed Japanese investors to sell its prized memory chip business.

The sale is seen as a key for the cash-strapped firm's turnaround.

On currency markets, the dollar fetched 111.11 yen compared with 111.37 yen in New York.