Tokyo stocks open lower on higher yen

•  The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.10 percent or 20.49 points at 21,321.25 in early trade.
• The dollar fetched 106.86 yen in early Asian trade, little changed from 106.87 yen in New York but lower than 107.18 yen in Tokyo on Thursday.

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened lower on Friday as a higher yen against the dollar weighed on the market following a rally on Wall Street sparked by expectations of more rate cuts.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.10 percent or 20.49 points at 21,321.25 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was down 0.29 percent or 4.61 points at 1,564.26.

"Despite rebounds on the US stock market for the first time in the past three sessions, a higher yen is capping the upside" in Tokyo, Yoshihiro Ito, chief strategist at Okasan Online Securities, said in a note.

The dollar fetched 106.86 yen in early Asian trade, little changed from 106.87 yen in New York but lower than 107.18 yen in Tokyo on Thursday.

In Tokyo, banks were lower with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial trading down 1.21 percent at 535.3 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial down 0.95 percent at 3,633 yen.

Pharmaceuticals also sank, with Takeda Pharmaceutical trading down 1.03 percent at 3,645 yen and Daiichi Sankyo down 0.74 percent at 6,526 yen.

On Wall Street, the Dow ended up 0.5 percent at 26,201.04.