Tokyo stocks could face pressure next week: analysts

Tokyo investors will be tracking a Bank of Japan policy meeting next week looking for clues about the state of the economy while a stronger yen could prevent any big gains, analysts said Friday.

The Nikkei started this week on a high as US stocks posted record-setting advances, but it lost steam as Wall Street turned down with few cues to spark aggressive buying.

"This trend may not change immediately," said Hirokazu Kabeya, senior strategist at Daiwa Securities.

That downturn was capped by a 1.41 percent decline in the Nikkei 225 on Friday with the index losing 201.62 points to finish at 14,096.59.

The Nikkei lost 0.73 percent over the week and is now down more than 13 percent since the start of the year.

Tokyo's broader Topix index of all first-section shares fell 1.63 percent on Friday, or 19.22 points, to finish at 1,159.07. It slipped 0.55 percent over the week.

"There is a sense of overheating in US stocks and the Nikkei is likely to move around 14,000," said Hiroichi Nishi, head of equity investment research at SMBC Nikko Securities.

However, Nishi said the pessimism may not last long.

"Bright outlooks remain intact as the US economy stays on a recovery, track as does the Japanese economy," he added.

On Thursday, data showed Japan's first-quarter growth was the strongest in more than two years as the nation's cash registers rang up big sales ahead of a consumption tax rise, although the levy hike threatens to stall activity in the coming months.

In more positive news, revised industrial production released Friday afternoon showed Japan's factory output rose 0.7 percent in March, stronger than the 0.3 percent preliminary reading.

The BoJ wraps up a policy meeting on Wednesday with investors watching how the central bank assesses the impact of the April 1 sales tax hike on a budding economic recovery.

Governor Haruhiko Kuroda has said he would not hesitate to unleash further easing measures if necessary. But the upbeat data this week suggested that imminent moves are unlikely.

Investors will also be watching for US housing data as well as Chinese and eurozone manufacturing figures next week.

In Friday share trading, Japan Display, the world's biggest maker of screens for smartphones and tablets and a key Apple supplier, plunged 12.05 percent to 518 yen after its annual outlook failed to beat market expectations.

Sony fell 2.89 percent to 1,646 yen in Tokyo, following a more than 6.0 percent dive Thursday after it announced a $1.26 billion loss in the past fiscal year and warned of another negative result in the next 12 months.

All Nippon Airways fell 2.18 percent to 224 yen after its budget airline division announced it was cancelling over 150 flights next month due to a pilot shortage.