Japanese shares down 0.24pc by noon

TOKYO: Japanese shares fell 0.24 percent Friday morning, with investor sentiment hurt by a firmer yen and disappointment over Sony's business outlook, brokers said.

The headline Nikkei index shed 23.42 points to 9,538.63. The Topix index of all first-section issues edged down 0.03 percent or 0.26 points to 826.82.

Yumi Nishimura, senior market analyst at Daiwa Securities, said: "Volume will likely be weak in the absence of major market-moving events, especially as Monday is a holiday in both the US and the UK."

Negative factors include a firmer yen against the dollar and euro, which pressure exporters, she said.

The dollar fetched 81.03 yen in Tokyo midday trade, down from 81.29 in New York late Thursday. The euro also slipped to 114.91 yen from 114.98.

"Looking ahead, we need to carefully gauge US economic conditions by studying various indicators, and if the outlook improves, Japanese shares may also test higher ground as the yen weakens," said Cosmo Securities strategist Toshikazu Horiuchi.

Sony tumbled 3.03 percent to 2,170 yen following multiple brokerage target price cuts after the company released earnings on Thursday after the market closed.

"The share (prices) may stay capped for now given continued hacker attacks and the expectation that profits won't normalise until the third quarter," analyst Takashi Watanabe wrote in a client note.

Separately, Monex analyst Toshiyuki Kanayama said investors were sceptical of the company estimate of around 14 billion yen ($172 million) in costs arising from an online security breach and nervous that the impact may be larger.

Sony on Thursday reported its third annual loss in a row but forecast a net profit of 80 billion yen for the year to March 2012.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011