Nikkei follows Wall Street lower ahead of Jackson Hole symposium

TOKYO: Japan's Nikkei index slid on Friday, in line with Wall Street's declines overnight, on caution around prospects for an earlier tapering of Federal Reserve stimulus.

The Nikkei shed 0.33% to end the morning session at 27,651.51, but that was off the day's low of 27,481.23. The broader Topix lost 0.32% to 1,929.16, but also recovered from bigger declines.

"The market is being supported by buyers coming in who think stocks look like a bargain here," said a market participant at a domestic securities firm.

The Nikkei is still on track for a 2.36% gain this week, the most since May, after bouncing off an almost eight-month low last week of 26,954.81.

Tokyo stocks close flat ahead of Jackson Hole

On Friday though, slides in Nikkei heavyweights weighed on the overall index, with Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing down 0.76% and medical supply maker Terumo Corp. slumping 1.98%.

SoftBank Group fell 0.6%, Sony Group Corp. declined 0.58% and Toyota Motor Corp. dropped 0.55%.

Fears of a potential shift in Fed policy prompted a broad but shallow sell-off on Wall Street, with the central bank's annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming due on Friday. All three major stock indexes ended in the red, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq notching their first down day in six.

Several Fed officials sounded hawkish notes on Thursday, with St.

Louis Fed president James Bullard saying he expects a "good assessment" of where the economy stands in Fed Chair Jerome Powell's keynote speech at the event.

Among bright spots in Japanese stocks were gains for chip-related shares, with Tokyo Electron climbing 0.7% and Advantest advancing 0.76%.

Shippers stood out, making up the three top gainers on the Nikkei. Mitsui OSK Lines surged 8.98%, Kawasaki Kisen jumped 5.85% and Nippon Yusen rallied 5.53%.

Sea transport was the Topix's best-performing subsector, climbing 6.63%.