Japanese shares edged down Friday as market sentiment was hurt by the yen's rise against major currencies and an unexpected drop in industrial output.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 31.23 points, or 0.31 per cent, to end at 10,083.56 while the broader Topix index was down 3.39 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 854.35.
For the week, the Nikkei climbed 0.72 per cent and the Topix was up 0.21 per cent.
For the month, the Nikkei rose 3.71 per cent and the Topix gained 2.2 per cent.
Export-oriented issues declined as the yen rose, hovering around the upper-81-yen level to the dollar. A stronger yen makes Japanese goods more expensive overseas and erodes repatriated revenues.
Shares in Sony Corp fell 2.4 per cent, Canon Inc lost 1 per cent and Toyota Motor Corp was down 0.1 per cent.
The government said Friday that industrial output fell a seasonally adjusted 1.2 per cent in February from the previous month, the first decline in three months.
The drop was unexpected with a survey by the financial news agency Bloomberg predicting a 1.3-per-cent increase.
The government also said the nation's unemployment rate edged down 0.1 percentage points from the previous month to 4.5 per cent in February, the government said.
Japan's core consumer price index, which excludes fresh food, climbed 0.1 per cent in February from a year earlier, the first rise in five months, amid long-standing concerns about deflation in the country, the government reported.
On currency markets at 3 pm (08:00 SA time), the dollar traded at 81.92-94 yen, down from Thursday's 5 pm quote of 82.41-42 yen.
The euro was quoted at 109.36-39 yen, down from 109.93-97 yen late Thursday, and at 1.3349-3350 dollars, up from 1.3339-3340
dollars. - Sapa-dpa