Tokyo: Stocks open 0.37% lower

[TOKYO] Tokyo stocks opened 0.37 per cent lower on Friday with investors awaiting the release of European and Japanese economic data.

The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell 77.19 points to 20,518.36 at the start.

Key eurozone economies, led by Germany, are scheduled to release their April-June gross domestic product (GDP) figures Friday.

Japan will announce its three month GDP figures Monday.

In New York, Wall Street stocks finished little changed Thursday in choppy trade as retail sales bested expectations while anxiety over China eased.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.03 per cent.

The broad-based S&P 500 dipped 0.13 per cent, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.21 per cent.

Worries over China eased as the country reassured markets it would not allow the yuan to plummet after a surprise devaluation this week.

In Tokyo forex trade, the dollar fetched 124.41 yen early Friday against 124.43 yen in New York late Thursday.

The euro traded at US$1.1155 and 138.81 yen compared with US$1.1152 and 138.77 yen in US trade.

AFP