Tokyo stocks opened lower Tuesday taking cues from a poor showing on Wall Street overnight which saw sentiment dampened by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) latest missile launch and the signing by President Donald Trump's of a new U.S. travel ban.

As of 9:15 a.m. local time, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average dropped 42.99 points, or 0.22 percent, from Monday to 19,336.15.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, dropped 1.12 points, or 0.07 percent, to 1,553.78.

Notable issues that lost ground early on comprised nonferrous metal, iron and steel, and metal-linked product issues.