Tokyo slips ahead of key reports
TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Tokyo stocks slipped early Friday as investors cautiously awaited key events including a series of earnings reports from major Japanese companies later in the day.
The U.S. dollar was up against the Japanese yen and the euro.
The benchmark Nikkei Stock Average of 225 selected issues fell 7.85 points, or 0.07 percent, to 11,381.50 points early Friday. The index lost 17.79 points, or 0.16 percent, Thursday.
The dollar was trading at 104.48 yen at 9 a.m. (0000 GMT) Friday, up 0.34 yen from late Thursday in Tokyo and also above the 104.45 yen it bought in New York later that day.
On the stock market, autos, technology and banks faced light selling ahead of earnings reports later Friday, including Mazda Motor Corp., Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Investors also cautiously awaited other key events, such as U.S. January employment data and a meeting of finance ministers from Group of Seven countries.
The broader TOPIX, the index of all issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section, lost 2.02 points, or 0.18 percent, to 1,147.49 points early Friday. The TOPIX shed 2.46 points, or 0.21 percent, the day before.
In New York overnight, U.S. stocks fell amid disappointment over lower-than-expected earnings from Amazon.com Inc. and low productivity gains from U.S. workers.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 3.69, or 0.03 percent, to 10,593.10. The tech-focused Nasdaq composite index dropped 17.42, or 0.84 percent, to 2,057.64.
In currency trading, the dollar remained stronger against the yen and the euro after rising in New York on inflation concerns prompted by a weak fourth quarter production and a fall in gold prices.
The euro fell to $1.2971 early Friday in Tokyo from $1.3025 late Thursday and to 135.50 yen from 135.64 yen.
The yield on Japan's benchmark 10-year government bond rose to 1.3250 percent, from Thursday's finish of 1.3200 percent. Its price slipped 0.04 to 99.78 points.
