TOKYO: Japanese shares fell 0.48 percent by noon Friday on profit-taking in thin trade ahead of a raft of earnings reports by market heavyweights next week, dealers said.
The Nikkei index lost 46.61 points to 9,639.16 by the break. The Topix index also slipped 0.69 percent or 5.82 points to 835.90.
Trading was thin as investors mostly stayed on the sidelines ahead of next week's heavy slate of earnings reports by Japan's corporate titans, brokers said, adding that many overseas markets were also on holiday.
"The firmer yen and higher crude prices will pressure Japanese stocks, while US stocks' overnight rally will provide support," Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager of investment strategy and research at Daiwa Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.
On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 52.45 points or 0.42 percent to finish at 12,505.99, extending a rally from a day earlier, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite climbed 17.65 points or 0.63 percent to 2,820.16.
The market is also bracing for the outcome of the US Federal Reserve's policy meeting next week, dealers said.
"US earnings look good, so the next big focus will be on monetary policy," Investrust CEO Hiroyuki Fukunaga said.
A firmer yen prompted sales of exporter shares, with Sony down 1.47 percent and Toyota off 0.62 percent.
Canon lost 2.24 percent on a Nikkei business daily report that the company may revise down its earnings forecast.
Tokyo Electric Power Company, the operator of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, slid 5.91 percent.
Isuzu gained 1.79 percent in the wake of a Nikkei report that the company has started negotiations with Volkswagen of Germany on a truck business tie-up.
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