TOKYO - Tokyo stocks slipped 0.17 percent Friday morning as investors retreated to the sidelines with most major Asian exchanges closed for the Christmas holiday.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange shed 29.57 points to 17,779.18 by the break, while the Topix index of all first-section issues edged up 0.11 percent, or 1.57 points, to 1,422.83.
Official data Friday morning showed Japan's industrial output suffered a surprise drop in November, turning down after two months of rises.
Meanwhile, Japanese core inflation rate continued to slow in November, dealing another challenged to Tokyo and the Japanese central bank's battled to conquer years of deflation.
Currency rates fluctuated narrowly after a barrage of weak Japanese data dealt a blow to hopes for a recovery in the world's third-largest economy.
The dollar bought 120.18 yen in midday trade Friday, from 120.14 in Asian trade Thursday.
European and US stocks markets were closed Thursday for the Christmas holiday, while financial markets in Hong Kong and Australia were among those in Asia-Pacific closed on Friday.
In Tokyo stocks trade, Honda was down 1.55 percent to 3,604.0 yen after media reports said the automaker would likely put off the January launch of a luxury sedan.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group was up 0.53 percent at 4,429.0 yen after Citigroup said Thursday it was selling its century-old Japanese retail banking operations to the Japanese group's trust banking unit.
AFP
