TOKYO: Tokyo shares fell by noon Friday amid caution ahead of an earnings season expected to offer some indication of the initial impact of the March 11 disasters and an ongoing nuclear crisis.
Investors were given a soft lead by Wall Street overnight, following disappointing US jobs data and earnings from Google.
The Nikkei 225 index shed 41.69 points, or 0.43 percent, to 9,612.23. The Topix index fell 2.69 points, or 0.32 percent, to 844.03.
Tokyo Electric Power was off 6.20 percent at 469 yen. Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Banri Kaieda said the government has no plans to nationalise TEPCO and wants the company to pay for costs associated with the nuclear crisis through its profits.
The yen's rise against the US dollar this week was weighing on stocks, but the market remained supported by expectations for further Bank of Japan exchange traded fund purchases, analysts said.
"We may see some afternoon buying similar to that of the past few days, with overseas institutional investors coming in," Hideyuki Ishiguro, a strategist at Okasan Securities, said.
Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities, expected the Japanese market to drift without a clear direction before the earnings season kicks into gear next week.
Investors were closely watching the latest Chinese CPI and GDP data, along with their impact on the Chinese market, he told Dow Jones Newswires.
US stock markets closed mixed Thursday after new claims for US unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly to 412,000 last week, an increase of 27,000 from the previous week.
That was above the 400,000 level that many economists believe signifies job growth.
Google shares fell in after hours trading as the Internet giant's earnings came in slightly below Wall Street expectations, dragged down by rising operating expenses.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.12 percent after a late rally.
The yen eased slightly to 83.69 against the dollar, from 83.64 in New York Thursday, while it stood at 121.27 to the euro, from 120.97.
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