Japan's Nikkei share average ended down 0.99 percent on Friday, a day after its biggest loss in six months, as investors continued to sell Teikoku Oil Co and other recent gainers.
Analysts said investors held back ahead of US employment data due later in the day and as New York police stepped up security after being alerted to a possible terrorist attack.
But property, bank and steel stocks proved resilient helping the broader TOPIX index eke out gains. Junichi Misawa, a senior fund manager at STB Asset Management, said investors are now paying heed to upcoming corporate earnings to justify recent gains in the stock market.
"The markets have got ahead of themselves in betting solely on the economic recovery story," he said. "What was forgotten was to confirm that corporate earnings are actually on an upward trend," he added.
The Nikkei fell 131.77 points to 13,227.74.
The benchmark lost 2.41 percent on Thursday, its biggest one-day percentage loss since April 18. On the week, the Nikkei lost 2.55 percent, its biggest weekly declines since April 18-22, when the benchmark lost 2.8 percent.
The broader TOPIX index was up 0.08 percent at 1,372.52. Energy stocks extended losses, with oil and natural gas producer Teikoku Oil falling 3.6 percent to 1,041 yen.
Oil and gas explorer Inept Corp declined 2.7 percent to 786,000 yen, extending on Thursday's 4.7 percent drop. Bank stocks rebounded, with Mizuho Financial Group, Japan's second-biggest banking group, adding 2.7 percent to 679,000 yen and snapping a three-day losing streak. Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co Ltd jumped 4.5 percent to 884 yen, after lifting its first-half net profit estimate on Thursday by 35 percent to 50 billion yen ($441.2 million).
Steel stocks also recovered. JFE Holdings, Japan's No 2 steel maker, jumped 4.6 percent to 3,670 yen after falling nearly 5 percent this week.
Nippon Steel Corp added 3.2 percent to 416 yen, recouping some of its 5.6 percent losses this week.
Trade volume slipped, with 2.69 billion shares changing hands compared with 2.82 billion on Thursday. Decline's outnumbered advancers 816 to 734.