The broader Topix lost 0.44% to 1,992.20 after touching a 2-1/2-month high in the previous session. The index is set to post a 0.25% weekly gain.
"Japanese shares tracked Wall Street's decline but their losses were capped because of the yen's weakness, which is good for Japanese equities," said Seiichi Suzuki, chief equity market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Institute. Wall Street ended lower on Thursday after unexpectedly strong inflation data and a drop in weekly jobless claims added to fears that the U.S. Federal Reserve will keep raising interest rates to tame high prices. The strong economic data sent the dollar jumping to a new six-week peak against the Japanese yen. Technology investor SoftBank Group fell 1.73%, dragging the Nikkei the most, followed by chip making equipment maker Tokyo Electron , which lost 1.4%. Staffing agency Recruit Holdings lost 3.1%. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries gave up its 2% gain to edge up 0.7% after Japan's H3 rocket, which it co-developed with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA), failed to lift off on Friday. Tyre makers jumped 2.97% to become the best sector among the 33 industry sub-indexes on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Bridgestone jumped 3.75% and was the best performer on the Nikkei after flagging an 11.5% increase in net profit for the year to December.
Steel makers rose 2.33%.
"For those who bought stocks, they chose value shares. Value shares are preferred when the U.S. Treasury yields are on the rise." (Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
