Tokyo stocks opened lower Friday, trailing losses on Wall Street as investors awaited the release of US employment data.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 1.42 percent, or 400.54 points, to 27,825.54 in early trade while the broader Topix index gave up 1.47 percent, or 29.11 points, to 1,957.35.

Overnight weakness of US banking and semiconductor shares weighed on the Tokyo market, which dipped from the start, wiping out gains made on Thursday.

The Dow ended down 0.6 percent, while the Nasdaq inched up 0.1 percent.

"Tokyo shares are expected to trend lower under the weight of the Dow's fall," brokerage house Monex said.

"Before the release of the US jobs report, due out later in the day, the market is likely to lean toward a wait-and-see mode," it added.

The dollar stood at 135.46 yen, hovering near the 135.34 yen seen Thursday in New York.

Global investors continued to digest Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's announcement that it was time to moderate the speed of his aggressive interest rate hikes to counter inflation.

They also closely followed China's strict zero-Covid policy, with signs that Beijing might be moving toward a more pragmatic approach.

"This should help alleviate some of the acute supply chain issues as well, as perhaps citizens no longer being discouraged from going out due to fears of being pinged and being sent to a quarantine facility," Tapas Strickland of National Australia Bank said in a note.

Among major shares, sports equipment maker Mizuno jumped 1.27 percent to 2,880 yen after Japan's national football team at the World Cup beat Spain to advance to the knockout round.

Internet firm Cyber Agent, which streamed the game for free, soared 6.05 percent to 1,314 yen.

Leading bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group fell 1.48 percent to 736.9 yen. Mizuho Financial Group lost 1.55 percent to 1,651.5 yen.

Advantest, which makes tests for semiconductors, fell 0.31 percent to 9,500 yen.

High-tech investor SoftBank Group fell 0.45 percent to 6,020 yen. Sony Group fell 1.77 percent to 11,125 yen.