• Japan’s Nikkei index was down 0.58 percent, or 153.51 points, to 26,268.54 in early trading on Friday.
• Topix index fell 0.43 percent and the dollar was valued at 144.47 yen, compared to 144.42 yen in New York.
• Japan’s unemployment rate was 2.5%, down from 2.1% in August, according to official figures.

On Friday, Japanese equities began down, extending declines on Wall Street where higher US Treasury yields, inflation, and rising recession fears remained.

In early trading, the Nikkei 225 index was down 0.58 percent, or 153.51 points, to 26,268.54, while the Topix index fell 0.43 percent, or 8.04 points, to 1,860.76.

“Japanese shares are likely to continue in the direction of declining, following a rebound in the previous session and as European and US shares dropped,” SBI Securities said in a note.

As Japan’s fiscal half-year comes to an end on Friday, investors may adopt a “wait-and-see” attitude, according to the brokerage.

Overnight, Wall Street’s major market indices declined as US government yields continued to climb and the most recent data revealed a decline in initial claims for unemployment benefits, which fell below 200,000 for the first time since May.

In early Asian trade, the dollar was valued at 144.47 yen, compared to 144.42 yen in New York late Thursday.

Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said Thursday at a meeting of the Asian Development Bank in Manila that Japan is prepared to “take appropriate steps” in response to unwelcome rapid speculative currency movements.

This month, the government has already conducted a currency intervention to strengthen the yen versus the dollar.

In August, Japan’s unemployment rate was 2.5%, down 0.1% from the previous month, and the number of available jobs per 100 job seekers increased to 132 from 129, according to official figures.

SoftBank Group was down 2.04 percent to 4,928.0 yen, Sony Group fell two percent to 9,397 yen, and Toyota fell 1.99 percent to 1,999.5 yen, among the big shares.

Hitachi fell 1.77 percent to reach 6,231 yen. Hitachi and General Electric will jointly construct a nuclear reactor of the next generation to solve safety flaws that contributed to the 2011 Fukushima nuclear tragedy, according to a report published on Friday.

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