Tokyo stocks trade lower with eyes on China data

Tokyo stocks traded lower Friday morning, as the tailwind from a cheaper yen was offset by worries over US inflation and investors awaited China's GDP data due later in the day.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.04 per cent, or 11.15 points, at 26,632.24 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was down 0.51 per cent, or 9.67 points, at 1,883.46.

"Even though a cheaper yen against the dollar is a positive factor, concerns over US inflation are weighing on the market," Mizuho Securities said in a note, adding that investors are also likely to take to the sidelines ahead of a three-day weekend in Japan.

Traders are closely watching Chinese second-quarter GDP data due at 0200 GMT, analysts added.

Overnight, Wall Street stocks finished mostly lower following another troubling inflation report as disappointing bank earnings set a downcast tone for the second-quarter earnings season.

For the second day in a row, US indices tumbled after data showed an acceleration in wholesale prices instead of the hoped-for moderation.

The Dow ended down 0.5 per cent at 30,630.17 and the broad-based S&P closed down 0.3 per cent, while the tech-rich Nasdaq ended up less than 0.1 per cent.

The dollar fetched 139.03 yen in early Asian trade, up from 138.93 yen in New York.

In Tokyo, Fast Retailing climbed 8.01 per cent to 75,750 yen after it revised its full-year profit forecasts upward.

SoftBank Group was down 0.69 per cent at 5,348 yen after a Wall Street Journal report said executives from Alibaba's cloud division have been called in for talks by Shanghai authorities in connection with the theft of a vast police database.

SoftBank Group owns roughly 25 percent of Alibaba shares.

Among others, Nintendo was up 1.81 percent at 61,180 yen but Hitachi was off 0.51 percent at 6,395 yen and Sony Group was down 0.49 percent at 11,150 yen.