Tokyo stocks closed slightly lower Friday after a day's directionless trading.
The benchmark 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average ended 6.73 points down, or 0.08 percent, from Thursday to 7,917.51.
The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was down 2.86 points, or 0.36 percent, to 786.02.
Decliners included banking, transport equipment such as automakers, and textile issues. Gainers were led by oil and coal product, securities, and information and communication issues.
Investors are caught between bargain hunting and selling pressure ahead of the release of key U.S. employment data.
Among the decliners, Honda Motor slid 32 yen, or nearly 2 percent, to 1,653 yen, after the automaker said Friday it will withdraw from Formula One by the end of this year, citing rapidly deteriorating business conditions due to the global financial turmoil and the worldwide economic downturn.
Banking issues also suffered losses. Volume leader Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group dropped 25 yen, or over 5 percent, to 435 yen.
On the First Section, declining issues outnumbered advancing ones 874 to 731, with 107 others remaining unchanged.
Trading volume on the main section came to 1,899.38 million shares, down from Thursday's 2,025.79 million.
The TSE's Second Section index was down 0.10 point to 1,896.52 on a volume of 30.63 million shares. On the Osaka Securities Exchange, the near-term December Nikkei 225 index futures contract was up 20 points to 7,900.
Source: Xinhua
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