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Japan's Nikkei share average slipped on Friday morning in choppy trade as uncertainty over US political issues sapped investors' risk appetite, with index-heavy stocks such as Fanuc and TDK underperforming. The Nikkei fell 0.3 per cent to 21,737.95 in midmorning trade after opening up slightly higher. For the week, the benchmark index has gained 1.3 per cent.
The dollar was 0.3 per cent lower at 106.020 yen following a report by the Washington Post that US President Donald Trump has decided to remove H.R. McMaster as his national security advisor . Also souring sentiment was news that US Special Counsel Robert Mueller has subpoenaed the Trump Organization for documents, including some related to Russia, the New York Times reported on Thursday, citing two people briefed on the matter.
Analysts said that uncertainty over US political matters is casting a shadow on investment in risky assets, however, downside should be limited thanks to the Bank Of Japan's buying of exchange-traded funds to support the market. The central bank bought 73.5 billion yen of ETFs on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
Fanuc Corp shed 1.4 per cent, TDK Corp stumbled 2.3 per cent and Tokyo Electron declined 1.1 per cent. Utility shares were also sold. Kansai Electric Power Co dropped 2.0 per cent and Chubu Electric Power Co fell 1.4 per cent. The broader Topix dropped 0.1 per cent to 1,741.41.
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