TOKYO, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed essentially flat Friday as fears over a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in Japan dampened the market mood, offsetting investors opting to pick up issues after the market's tumble a day earlier.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average shed 9.31 points, or 0.03 percent, from Thursday to close the day at 28,478.56.
The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, lost 1.33 points, or 0.07 percent, to finish at 1,995.68.
Local brokers said that investors sought out issues that had lost ground in the previous day's rout that saw the Nikkei drop almost 3 percent.
But renewed concerns over a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in Japan dampened risk appetite amid concerns over the economy if further emergency measures are taken.
Dealers here pointed to investor sentiment being dampened by reports that Japan's daily COVID-19 cases surpassed the 5,000-mark for the 1st time since Sept. 17, while Tokyo's daily tally reached 922 new infections, the highest figure since mid-September.
Adding to market woes, community transmission of the highly contagious Omicron variant of the virus has been confirmed in some of Japan's major metropolises including Tokyo and Osaka, market strategists said.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida confirmed Friday that three Japanese prefectures hard-hit by surging cases of COVID-19, related to virus outbreaks at U.S. bases, will be placed under a quasi-state of emergency, causing further market jitters.
The entire southernmost prefecture of Okinawa, host to the vast majority of U.S. bases in Japan, will be put under a quasi-state of emergency, following a new record of 1,414 new daily virus cases being detected Friday, according to official figures, they highlighted.
The two other prefectures subject to stricter antiviral measures, Yamaguchi and Hiroshima, meanwhile, will see the mandate only applied to certain towns and cities there, with tougher measures coming into effect for all three affected prefectures from Sunday to Jan. 31, they said.
"Investors also moved to close out their positions ahead of the U.S. job data and Japan's three-day weekend," Masahiro Ichikawa, chief market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Co., was quoted as saying.
Other brokers said that Wall Street's lackluster performance overnight did little to lift the market mood.
By the close of play, issues that fell outpaced those that rose by 1,218 to 853 on the First Section, while 114 ended the day unchanged.
Issues related to leisure and transportation lost ground ahead of a long weekend in Japan, on concerns of decreased patronage as individuals and families opt to stay at home due to concerns of the virus' spread.
Tokyo Disney Resort operator Oriental Land fell 1.0 percent, while East Japan Railway ended the day 1.8 percent lower.
Chip-linked stocks retreated, with Advantest losing 0.6 percent, while Tokyo Electron dipped 0.1 percent.
A rise in crude in prices lifted some energy-related issues, however, with oil exploration giant Inpex rising 3.7 percent, while Idemitsu Kosan added 2.5 percent.
Nikkei heavyweight SoftBank Group was a notable winner, ending the day 1.9 percent higher.
On the main section on Friday, 1,289.05 million shares changed hands, rising from Thursday's volume of 1,210.64 million shares.
The turnover on the last trading day of the week came to 3,012.82 billion yen (26.01 billion U.S. dollars). ■
