Tokyo stocks fell Friday morning as investors locked in gains after the benchmark Nikkei ended at a fresh 30-year high the previous day, with some traders cautious ahead of the release of corporate earnings starting next week.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average shed 109.87 points, or 0.38 percent, from Thursday to 28,646.99. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was down 3.49 points, or 0.19 percent, at 1,857.15.

Decliners were led by mining, iron and steel, and insurance issues.

The U.S. dollar hovered in the mid-103 yen zone, fetching 103.54-55 yen at noon, compared with 103.43-53 yen in New York and 103.52-53 yen in Tokyo at 5 p.m. Thursday.

The euro was quoted at $1.2173-2177 and 126.04-05 yen against $1.2164-2174 and 125.90-126.00 yen in New York and $1.2119-2120 and 125.46-50 yen in Tokyo late Thursday afternoon.

Shares dropped from the opening, with the Nikkei briefly falling over 200 points, or 0.8 percent. The declines came after the Nikkei ended Thursday at 28,756.86, its highest closing level since Aug. 3, 1990, amid hopes for a U.S. economic recovery under new President Joe Biden.

Investors secured gains as a cautious mood prevailed prior to the release of October-December earnings results next week by major Japanese companies, said Makoto Sengoku, a market analyst at the Tokai Tokyo Research Institute.

"Investors are taking a wait-and-see stance as they will closely watch for any improvement in earnings outlook for the next fiscal year" starting April, Sengoku said.

Although shares managed to trim some losses toward the end of the morning session, the market remained top-heavy amid doubt about whether the Tokyo Olympics will go ahead in July this year despite the unabated rise in coronavirus cases in Japan and overseas.

On the First Section, declining issues outnumbered advancers 1,360 to 707, while 115 ended the morning unchanged.

Some chip-manufacturing equipment makers continued to suffer as investors locked in gains, with Screen Holdings sliding 290 yen, or 3.3 percent, to 8,450 yen and Tokyo Electron falling 550 yen, or 1.2 percent, to 43,660 yen.

Bucking the downward trend, cosmetics maker Shiseido jumped 315 yen, or 4.6 percent, to 7,090 yen after the company said Friday it is in talks to sell its low-priced shampoo and skincare brands to CVC Asia Pacific Ltd., a unit of a European private equity firm CVC Capital Partners.

==Kyodo

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