Tokyo's benchmark index closed at its lowest level in more than three months Friday in the wake of Barcelona's deadly attack and concerns over US President Donald Trump's economic agenda. A van ploughed into crowds of pedestrians on the Spanish city's most popular street in broad daylight on Thursday, killing 13 people in an attack claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group.
"A van ramming broke out in Spain in what is believed to be a terror attack at a time when President Trump's views on racial discrimination were drawing criticism from various quarters," said Yoshihiro Ito, chief strategist at Okasan Online Securities. "This made risk-off sentiment prevail," he added in a commentary.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index lost 1.18 percent, or 232.22 points, to end at 19,470.41, its lowest finish since early May. The benchmark index fell 1.31 percent over the week. The Topix index of all first-section issues fell 1.08 percent, or 17.46 points, to 1,597.36 for a weekly loss of 1.23 percent.
In Washington, the administration has faced an exodus of CEOs outraged at the president's comments on white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups involved in violence last weekend in Virginia that killed one woman. "There had been strong concerns toward President Trump's policy operation until now, but his comments on race have put him in an even more precarious position," Hideyuki Ishiguro, a senior strategist at Daiwa Securities, told Bloomberg News.
The White House Thursday said Trump has abandoned plans to form an advisory council on infrastructure. Investors will closely watch a Fed symposium starting on Thursday where the chiefs of the European and US central banks are to speak, as they look for clues on policy-setting from September on, analysts said.
The yen, a safe haven for buyers in times of uncertainty, rose against the dollar, a negative development for Japanese exporters as the stronger currency erodes their repatriated profits. The greenback was at 109.30 yen on Friday against 109.57 yen in New York and 109.86 yen in Tokyo earlier Thursday.
In Tokyo trade, automakers were lower with Toyota down 0.80 percent to close at 6,125 yen while Honda fell 0.75 percent to 3,020 yen. Financial stocks fell sharply. Top brokerage Nomura tumbled 1.86 percent to 629.8 yen and major bank Mitsubishi UFJ lost 1.97 percent to end at 679.4 yen.