Tokyo’s markets joined the rest of Asia’s equities markets in declines on Friday.

The Nikkei 225 was 0.73 percent lower to 17.331.17, while the Topix index dropped 1.08 percent to 1,659.48 and the Mothers market of small and mid-caps fell 0.04 percent to 881.49.

Technology-related shares were lower.

Sony (TYO: 6758; NYSE: SNE) dropped 4.3 percent to ¥5,530 after a report showing that profits were down in its joint venture with Ericsson (NAS: ERIC) to make mobile phones.

Businesses related to the manufacture of semiconductors were lower on downgrades from Goldman Sachs.

Tokyo Electron (TYO: 8035) dropped 1.2 percent to ¥7,300 after its rating was dropped from “buy” to “neutral”.

Nikon (TYO: 7731), which makes machines that put circuitry on silicon wafers, was down 8 percent to ¥3,910 on a downgrade from “neutral” to “sell”, while chip making equipment maker Dainippon Screen (TYO: 7735) fell 8.6 percent to ¥692 after being downgraded from “buy” to “sell”.

In the retail sector, Fast Retailing (TYO: 9983) was 6 percent lower to ¥7,060 after full-year results showed that net income was down by 21 percent in the year ending 31 August, less than had been predicted earlier.

Tokyo’s markets were lower Friday.

The Nikkei 225 fell 0.41 percent to 16,248.97, while the Topix index was down 0.37 percent to 1,585.85 and the Mothers market declined 1.79 percent to 726.77.

The electronics sector was mixed.

Matsushita Electric Industrial (TYO: 6572; NYSE: MC) fell 0.5 percent to ¥2,015, although Toshiba (TYO: 6502; LSE: TOS) added 1.4 percent to ¥1,068.

Optical glass manufacturer Hoya (TYO: 7741; OTC: HOCP) dropped 3.4 percent to ¥3,930.

Honda Motor (TYO: 7267; NYSE: HMC) was 0.5 percent lower to ¥3,700.

Elsewhere in the auto sector, however, Hino Motors (TYO: 7205) and Isuzu Motors (TYO: 7202) were both higher on rumors that were denied by both parties that they would join to develop lower-emission diesel engines.

Isuzu added 2 percent to ¥565, while Hino was 3.3 percent higher to ¥782.

Shippers were higher on the session.

Mitsui OSK Lines (TYO: 9104) was up 1.1 percent to ¥1,619, while Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (TYO: 9107) gained 1.2 percent to ¥1,619 and Nippon Yusen (TYO: 9101) advanced 1.8 percent to ¥1,116.

Camera makers were also higher, with Nikon (TYO: 7731) adding 2.7 percent to ¥3,370 and Canon (TYO: 7751; NYSE: CAJ) gaining 3.7 percent to ¥6,490.

The Nikkei 225 one of the few Asian equities indices that showed a decline on Tuesday

The Nikkei dropped 0.2 percent to 17,248.89, while the Topix index closed barely higher at 1,706.18 and the Mothers market added 1.38 percent to 864.7.

Earnings results and other news drove gains and losses on the session in Tokyo.

Among banks, Shinsei Bank (TYO: 8303) added 6.4 percent to ¥448 on its report that quarterly recurring profit had gone up by 22 percent in its fiscal first quarter, while net income had risen by 63 percent.

The steel sector, on the other hand, saw declines after Japan’s Fair Trade Commission said it has begun an investigation into Nippon Steel (TYO: 5401) and JFE (TYO: 5411) concerning whether the two had engaged in price-fixing.

JFE was 1.7 percent lower to ¥8,210, while Nippon Steel dropped 2 percent to ¥900 as ¥91 billion in shares changed hands on the session.

Sumitomo Metal (TYO: 5405) fell 2.7 percent to ¥692.

The electronics sector was mixed,

Sharp (TYO: 6753) added 1.5 percent to ¥2,065 ahead of news after the close that it will build a new plant in Japan, while Sanyo Electric (TYO: 6764; NAS: SANYY) was 0.5 percent lower to ¥185 on a drop in operating profit of 72 percent in its fiscal first quarter, while Kyocera (TYO: 6971) dropped 6.3 percent to ¥11,500 on disappointing broker comments.

Camera maker Nikon (TYO: 7731) added 5.5 percent to ¥3,820 after Nikko Citigroup raised its target share price.

In Tokyo on Wednesday the Nikkei 225 was 1.1 percent lower to 18,015.58, while the Topix index also dropped 1.1 percent, to 1,758.65.

The declines came from both domestically-focused and export-focused sectors.

On the domestic side, the retail sector was down 1.9 percent as a whole, with several retailers doing even worse than that.

Aeon (TYO: 8267) dropped 2.1 percent to ¥2,055, while department store chain Isetan (TYO: 8238; SGX: I15) fell 2.2 percent to ¥1,922.

The worst performer on the Nikkei was Fast Retailing (TYO: 9983), which was down 4.4 percent to ¥7,280.

In the utilities sector, Tokyo Electric Power (TYO: 9501) was 4 percent lower to ¥3,600 on reports that a survey of earthquake damage in its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant had found 50 separate problems.

After US semiconductors manufacturer Intel (NAS: INTC; SEHK: 4335) reported margins at the low end of predictions in the second quarter, chipmaker Tokyo Electron (TYO: 8035) dropped 1 percent to ¥8,930.

The electronics sector was mixed on broker recommendations.

While Nikon (TYO: 7731) added 0.5 percent to ¥3,730 on a Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) upgrade from “overweight” to “equal-weight”, Pioneer was 3.3 percent lower to ¥1,645 after Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS; SWX: CSGN) cut its rating from “neutral” to “underperform”.

The Tokyo equities markets bounced back from Monday’s sell-offs to end the session higher on Tuesday. The Nikkei 225 closed up 0.4 percent to 17,406.86, while the Topix index was 0.9 percent higher to 1,732.42.

As the yen weakened late in the day, export-focused stocks saw gains. In the automobile manufacturing sector, Nissan Motor added 0.3 percent to ¥1,387 after steep declines on Monday. Toyota Motor was 1.8 percent higher to ¥7,960, while Honda Motor gained 2 percent to ¥4,620.

In the electronics sector, Canon added 1.3 percent to ¥6,230. Sony was 2.5 percent higher to ¥5,840. Meanwhile, camera manufacturers were helped not only by the weakness of the yen but by the shift to digital cameras. Nikon and Olympus both had significant gains in the last quarter of 2006 and both upped their full-year expectations. Olympus added 3.9 percent on the session to ¥4,050, while Nikon gained 5.4 percent to ¥2,750.

Even Nikko Cordial saw a gain of 1.9 percent to ¥1,175 after it was revealed that US investment house Harris Associates had acquired a 5 percent stake in Nikko.

The banking sector was lower after Goldman Sachs downgraded the entire sector from “attractive” to “neutral”. Mitsubishi UJF dropped 0.7 percent to ¥1.41 million.

Equities markets in Tokyo saw declines on Wednesday amid a round of profit-taking as investors awaited the decision on interest rates from the US Federal Reserve. The Nikkei 225 dropped 1.4 percent to 16,951.93, while the Topix index lost 1.3 percent to 1,725.06. Export-dependent shares were especially hard-hit by the weakening dollar.

Camera makers were hard-hit. Nikon dropped 2.2 percent to ¥2,230, while Konica Minolta was down 2.7 percent to ¥1,470.

Kyocera, which manufactures electronics parts, declined by 2.6 percent to ¥10,110.

Japan Air Lines was down 1.9 percent to ¥305 after it said it had lost ¥47.2 billion in the fiscal year ending in March. The air carrier, which has had its reputation harmed by several safety problems, had been expected to lose about that much. While the number of group passengers using the airline grew during the year, individual passenger traffic was down.

In the automobile manufacturing sector, Toyota dropped 0.7 percent to ¥6,680. After the market closed for the day the carmaker said that its net profits were up 17 percent in the last fiscal year but that they would likely be down 4.4 percent in the current fiscal year due to currency fluctuations and high prices for raw materials.