1st LD Writethru: Tokyo stocks close lower on jitters about U.S.-triggered trade frictions

TOKYO, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks ended lower in choppy trade on Friday as fresh jitters about U.S. trade issues led to a circumspect market mood despite support from a weaker yen.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average dropped 77.90 points, or 0.36 percent, from Thursday to close the day at 21,567.52.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, lost 5.31 points, or 0.31 percent, at 1,719.30.

Local brokers here said that the market got an early boost from the yen's depreciation against the U.S. dollar which lifted exporter issues and had a bearing on the broader market.

But concerns grew among investors about trade concerns following more rhetoric from U.S. President Donald Trump on the issue.

Amid a circumspect mood, traders switched to a wait-and-see approach in later trade ahead of U.S. jobs data for March due out later in the day and ahead of U.S. quarterly earnings from next week.

Air transportation, pulp and paper, and marine transportation comprised those that declined the most by the close of play, and falling issues beat rising ones by 1,354 to 661 on the First Section, with 66 ending the day unchanged.

On the main section on Friday, 1,469.38 million shares changed hands, dropping from Thursday's volume of 1,547.78 million shares.

The turnover on the final trading day of the week came to 2,657.7 billion yen (24.74 billion U.S. dollars). Enditem