TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened lower Friday after US shares snapped a three-day rally and investors awaited a key US inflation report due later in the day.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.50 percent or 144.70 points at 28,580.77 in early trade, while the broader Topix index slipped 0.21 percent or 4.14 points to 1,986.65.

"An impressive (US) jobless claims report could not overcome rising risks to the short-term outlook that stem from virus jitters and fears of an aggressive" tapering of the US Federal Reserve's easing programme, said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda, in a note.

"The next big move for equities will likely come after the US inflation report which could tilt the scales on how fast the Fed tapers and when we can expect that first rate hike," he added.

Asia markets up but fears over Chinese real estate linger

Tokyo investors are also moving to lock in profits after recent rallies and ahead of a major settlement date Friday of futures and options trade, analysts said.

The dollar fetched 113.43 yen in early Asian trade, against 113.44 yen in New York late Friday.

In Tokyo, Hitachi was up 1.56 percent at 6,501 yen after an announcement the Japanese engineering firm and France's Alstom will build 54 trains for Britain's new high-speed rail lines, in a deal worth almost £2 billion ($2.6 billion).

Panasonic was up 1.42 percent at 1,249.5 yen after reports said it agreed with China's TCL in outsourcing production of small- and mid-sized television sets.

Among other major shares, Sony was down 0.19 percent at 14,045 yen, Toyota was off 0.10 percent at 2,054.5 yen and Uniqlo casual wear operator Fast Retailing was down 0.28 percent at 68,440 yen.