Japanese shares edge down on profit-taking

Feb 10, 2012, 3:29 GMT

Tokyo - Japanese stocks inched lower Friday morning despite a weaker yen against major currencies as investors sold shares to lock in immediate profits after recent gains.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 17.4 points, or 0.19 per cent, to trade at 8,984.84 at the end of the morning session at 11:30 am (0230 GMT).

The broader Topix index was down 3.52 points, or 0.45 per cent, at 780.97.

Toyota Motor Corp fell 1.76 per cent in morning trading, after gaining 8 per cent since lifting a net profit outlook on Tuesday for the current financial year to 200 billion yen (2.6 billion dollars) from 180 billion yen it had predicted two months ago.

Sony Corp was down 0.39 per cent after rallying 7.6 per cent this week.

On currency markets at 11:30 am, the dollar traded at 77.60-62 yen, up from Thursday's 5 pm quote of 77.22-23 yen.

The euro was quoted at 103.03-06 yen, up from 102.56-60 yen late Thursday, and at 1.3277-3280 dollars, little changed from 1.3281-3283 dollars.