Tokyo stocks lost ground on Tuesday morning mirroring losses on Wall Street overnight, with the yen's appreciation giants the U.S. dollar weighing on export-liked issues.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average dropped 144.37 points, or 0.72 percent, from Monday to 20,026.45.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, lost 9.84 points, or 0.61 percent, to 1,600.13.

Pharmaceutical, machinery and mining-related stocks comprised those that retreated the most by the morning break.