Tokyo stocks open lower on virus worries

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened lower on Friday as support from rallies on Wall Street was overwhelmed by worries over an expected extension of the virus state of emergency in parts of Japan.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.20 percent or 58.64 points at 29,272.73 in early trade, while the broader Topix index inched down 0.01 percent or 0.21 points to 1,927.19.

"Japanese shares are seen moving up and down as the virus state of emergency will likely be extended," Okasan Online Securities said.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is expected to announce later Friday an extension of the virus state of emergency in four regions including Tokyo to May 31.

The measures are less strict than blanket lockdowns seen elsewhere in the world and primarily focus on limits to the business activities of shops, bars and restaurants.

The dollar fetched 109.04 yen in early Asian trade, against 109.09 yen in New York late Thursday.

In Tokyo, Nintendo was down 2.98 percent at 59,770 yen on profit-taking after the games giant reported its highest ever annual profit after virus lockdowns caused sales of its blockbuster Switch console to soar.

Online shopping mall operator and mobile carrier Rakuten was down 2.10 percent at 1,304 yen after its rival SoftBank Corp said it is suing Rakuten's mobile unit and a former SoftBank employee after the person was arrested for leaking confidential information.

SoftBank Corp was up 0.10 percent at 1,431 yen while its parent SoftBank Group was off 0.25 percent at 10,015 yen.

Japan Airlines was up 0.70 percent at 2,306 yen ahead of its earnings report due after the closing bell.

On Wall Street, the Dow ended up 0.9 percent at 34,548.53.