TOKYO, June 24, 2021 (BSS/AFP) - Tokyo stocks opened lower on Thursday in cautious trade after a mixed close on Wall Street, as investors digested the latest economic data and news on coronavirus vaccines.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.28 percent, or 80.11 points, at 28,794.78 in early trade while the broader Topix index slipped 0.21 percent, or 4.18 points, to 1,944.96.

"Japanese shares are seen starting with a bearish tone after the... Dow dipped again" on profit-taking, Toshiyuki Kanayama, senior market analyst at Monex, said in a note.

On Wall Street, the Dow ended down 0.2 percent at 33,874.24 and the broad-based S&P 500 slipped 0.1 percent, while the tech-rich Nasdaq edged 0.1 percent to a second straight record.

Investors were "awaiting fresh market-moving events" while watching the vaccination drive in Japan and digesting a US purchasing managers index for June issued overnight, senior strategist Yoshihiro Ito of Okasan Online Securities said in a commentary.

The dollar fetched 111.01 yen in early Asian trade, against 110.95 yen in New York late Wednesday.

In Tokyo, Eisai rallied 4.14 percent to 12,570 yen in early trade after the Japanese pharmaceutical firm and its US partner Biogen said that their Alzheimer's drug Lecanemab has received a breakthrough therapy designation from the US Food and Drug Administration.

Lecanemab is the second drug the companies are working on to treat Alzheimer's patients. The first -- named Aduhelm -- was approved by the FDA earlier this month.

Other drugmakers were lower, with Daiichi Sankyo trading down 0.82 percent at 2,455 yen and Takeda Pharmaceutical off 0.37 percent at 3,719 yen.

Elsewhere, market heavyweight Fast Retailing, which operates Uniqlo, was down 0.31 percent at 82,760 yen and construction machine maker Komatsu was off 0.76 percent at 2,783 yen.