The benchmark Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange was down 9.38 points or 0.11 percent at 8,783.74 after the first 30 minutes of trading.

Addressing Congress, Obama said the jobs plan would give a "jolt" to the stalled economy at an urgent time for a nation facing a deep economic and political crisis.

"The sum of the jobs plan was bigger than expected but it will take some more time to see it actually implemented. The market reaction was limited," said Yumi Nishimura, senior market analyst at Daiwa Securities.

Analysts said losses on Friday were likely to be limited as investors await a string of Chinese data due Friday as well as the Group of Seven finance ministers' meeting in France.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 119.05 points, or 1.04 percent, to finish at 11,295.81 on Thursday as market players waited for the Obama speech.

The euro bought $1.3922 in early Asian trade, up from $1.3880 late Thursday in New York where Europe's common currency fell after the European Central Bank signalled it would stop hiking interest rates.

The euro stayed weak against the yen, trading at 107.94 yen compared with 107.57 yen in New York.

The dollar traded at 77.54 yen, almost unchanged from New York.

Just before the opening bell in Tokyo revised government data showed Japan's economy shrank an annualised 2.1 percent in the April-June quarter following the March 11 quake and tsunami disaster.

It was more severe than last month's preliminary reading of a 1.3 percent shrinkage but was in line with market expectations.