TOKYO, Feb 1 (AFP): Tokyo investors will keep a close eye on US data next week and more Japanese corporate earnings with firms including Sony, Toyota and Panasonic due to report.
After the Federal Reserve this week reduced its stimulus programme by another $10 billion a month to $65 billion, following a similar cut in December, investors will be looking for more clues about the state of the worlds' biggest economy.
While the US central bank cited a firming US economy for the wind-down, the announcement rattled emerging markets such as India, South Africa and Russia on fears of a capital flight, which in turn sent their currencies diving.
That helped boost the yen, a safe-haven currency in times of turmoil. "Investors are seemingly taking profits ahead of this weekend as the yen firmed slightly," said Hiroaki Hiwata, strategist at Toyo Securities.
"Looking ahead, the US economic recovery will be the main focus as the majority of Asian markets are closed for Lunar New Year holidays. Domestically, share prices will depend on each company's earnings report."
On Friday, Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei-225 index slipped 92.53 points to finish at 14,914.53. The Nikkei lost 3.10 per cent over the week.
The broader Topix index of all first-section shares ended down 0.28 per cent, or 3.45 points, at 1,220.64. It lost 3.48 per cent over the week.
On currency markets, the dollar bought 102.47 yen in late Asian trade, down from 102.71 yen in New York but firmer than the 102.30 yen earlier Thursday in Asia.
Japanese corporate earnings for the nine months to December have seen mixed results so far with many notching up stronger profits thanks to a weak yen inflating their bottom line.
Among major shares in Tokyo, Fujitsu soared 12.89 per cent to 578 yen after the sprawling IT conglomerate said Thursday it had swung back to profit in the three months to December thanks to a weaker yen and brisk sales in PCs and networking services for public and business customers.
NEC rocketed 10.74 per cent to 299 yen on the sale of a mobile carrier unit --despite falling into the red in the nine months to December -- mainly because of restructuring costs and a drop in sales after it left the smartphone business.
