OREANDA-NEWS. February 11, 2015. Tokyo stocks closed 0.33 percent lower on Tuesday, hit by a firm yen and concern over bailout talks between Greece and its creditors.

The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange sank 59.25 points to 17,652.68, while the Topix index of all first-section issues edged up 0.20 percent, or 2.80 points, to 1,427.72.

Trading was slow ahead of a national holiday Wednesday.

"There's nothing particularly surprising about the details of the negotiations between Greece and the European Union," said Ryuta Otsuka, a strategist at Toyo Securities.

"But the conflict between one side asking for a debt reduction and the other side seeking full repayment are weighing heavily on sentiment," he told Bloomberg News.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras vowed over the weekend to stand by his anti-austerity electoral promises, raising worries the country will default on its 315 billion euros (\\$360 billion) debt repayments.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday she awaited a "sustainable" proposal from Greece that respected the "basic rules" of the bailout programme as set by international lenders.

With the two sides at loggerheads US and European markets sank.

The yen edged up against the dollar as investors looked for safety, while a greenback rally fuelled by Friday's strong jobs report faded.

The dollar slipped to 118.52 yen from 118.64 yen in New York Monday afternoon.

Fast Retailing, the operator of Uniqlo clothing outlets, fell 1.13 percent to 43,435.0 yen and Showa Shell eased 1.28 percent to 1,159 yen while Tokyo Electron slipped 3.58 percent to 8,234 yen.

However, Nissan rose 3.80 percent to 1,104.5 yen after the automaker raised its full-year net profit forecast, while Sony added 0.31 percent to 3,073.5 yen.

"There's increasing concern that corporate earnings won't be as good as hoped," said Koichi Kurose, chief market strategist at Resona Bank.

"But macro data should start to get better, and while it isn't being priced into stocks yet, there's the expectation that earnings will improve.

"So it's not like stocks are going to head down from here either," he said.