Tokyo stocks end morning lower, Yellen in focus

Tokyo stocks fell Friday morning as dealers awaited a speech by Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen and after fresh data showed Japan is still struggling in its battle to kickstart inflation.

Many investors are taking a wait-and-see stance ahead of Yellen's address at an annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, analysts said.

Her remarks come against a backdrop of growing concern that despite pushing interest rates to record lows -- and even negative territory -- leading central bankers have been unable to boost economic growth.

"You can't take on risk ahead of important events," like Yellen's speech, Takashi Ito, a Tokyo-based equity strategist at Nomura Securities, told Bloomberg News.

"There are two views on what she'll say; either that she'll take a step forward in her reference to the rate hike, or she won't mention it at all.

"It's difficult to predict. If she does make more hawkish comments the market could be chaotic in the short term," he added.

By the break, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.65 percent, or 107.95 points, at 16,448.00, extending the previous day's slide.

The broader Topix index of all first-sections shares fell 0.70 percent, or 9.17 points, to 1,295.10.

The greenback was at 100.48 yen compared with 100.55 yen in New York late Thursday

Official figures Friday morning showed Japanese consumer prices in July dropped for a fifth straight month The 0.5 percent decline in July -- economists had expected a 0.4 percent fall -- further underlined Tokyo's challenge in jacking up prices to stimulate the wider economy.

All Nippon Airways tumbled 2.14 percent to 273.5 yen after saying on Thursday it was cancelling some Boeing Dreamliner flights owing to a problem with the plane's engine.

Electronics giant Toshiba fell 0.68 percent to 304.6 yen on news it was being sued for nearly 12 billion yen in damages by Japan Trustee Services Bank over a massive profit-padding scandal.

Toyota sank 2.59 percent to 5,957 yen and Sony was off 0.56 percent at 3,352 yen.

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