Tokyo stocks slip again, Nintendo soars on Pokemon joy

Tokyo - Tokyo stocks were on track for a fourth straight loss on Friday after an opening rally fizzled out, but Nintendo soared as its new Pokemon game topped the gaming charts in its first week.

Investors kept their powder dry at the end of a volatile week dominated by the fallout of Britain's move to quit the EU, and ahead of US jobs data later in the day.

The June employment figures will be scrutinised for clues about the direction of monetary policy in the world's top economy.

"Investors will find it difficult to make a move ahead of the US data," Masayuki Doshida, a senior market analyst with Rakuten Economic Research Institute, told Bloomberg News.

Shortly after the opening bell, Tokyo's benchmark index rose as investors scooped up bargains after three days of decline.

But the Nikkei 225 slipped 59.00 points, to 15 217.24 by the break.

The Topix index of all first-section shares shed 7.05 points, to sit at 1 219.04.

Oil-linked stocks fell following a plunge in crude on Thursday, with energy explorer Inpex shedding 2.56% to finish the morning at ¥737.1 and refiner JX holdings down 0.72% off at ¥381.1.

Toyota rose 0.57%, Honda tacked on 1.40% to ¥2 497 and Nissan edged down 0.09% to ¥924.8.

Nintendo was the morning's big winner. The videogame giant surged 9.07% to ¥16 290 as investors reacted to news that its Pokemon game debuted at the top of the charts in the US and Australia.

On currency markets, the yen edged up against the dollar as traders tried to guess whether officials will step in to halt the currency's rise, which threatens profits at Japan's exporters.

Senior Japanese officials met on Friday morning to discuss recent market volatility.

The dollar was at ¥100.36 against ¥100.76 late on Thursday in New York.