posted a 0.2% weekly loss.
"The stronger yen was the reason for the decline in the
market today, while investors are still assessing the turmoil in
the banking sector ," said Shoichi Arisawa, general manager of
the investment research department at IwaiCosmo Securities.
The yen touched a six-week high against the dollar
on Friday as traders continue to evaluate the U.S. Federal
Reserve's hints of a pause to interest rate hikes. Risk appetite has been hurt after the failure of U.S.-based
Silicon Valley Bank and Swiss lender Credit Suisse's liquidity
issues raised concerns about a global financial crisis.
Toyota Motor Corp fell 0.17% and Honda Motor Co Ltd lost 0.62%.
Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing lost 1.01% to drag the
Nikkei down the most. Medical equipment maker Terumo Corp slipped 2.79% and robot maker Fanuc Corp fell
0.76%.
Oil explorers fell 1.27% to become the worst
performers among the 33 industry sub-indexes on the Tokyo Stock
Exchange after oil prices fell. Financials were weak, with the banking index slipping 0.77% and insurance index losing 0.93%.
Insurer Tokio Marine Holdings Inc fell the most
among the top 30 core Topix companies, with a 1.19% drop,
followed by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group , which lost
1.10%.
Chipmaking equipment maker Tokyo Electron gained
1.83% to provide the biggest support to the Nikkei index.
Silicon-wafer maker Shin-Etsu Chemical rose 2.23%.
Toshiba Corp jumped 4.2% after its board accepted a
buyout offer from a group led by private equity firm Japan
Industrial Partners.
Of the Nikkei components, 69 stocks rose and 149 fell, while
seven stocks were flat.
(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Varun H K and Sonia
Cheema)
