Tokyo stocks finished lower as poor interim earnings announced in recent days continued to weigh on sentiment, and as dealers adjusted positions on the last trading day of the month.

"With Hong Kong and other Asian markets up today, the Tokyo market should be higher too, with the Nikkei trading in the 13,800-point area," said Sachio Ishikawa, general manager of the stock division at Chuo Securities.

"But poor corporate earnings and Japan's domestic problems are holding the market back."

The Nikkei index fell 104.21 points to 13,564.51 after a 152-point rise on Thursday. The near-term December Nikkei futures contract ended down 170 points at 13,550.

Sony shares exemplify the earnings jitters. On Wednesday the company announced weak six-month earnings, blaming global economic turmoil and appreciation of the yen, and predicted a parent pretax loss of Y34.1bn for the second half of the fiscal year through March.

Sony plunged 3.89% today to a new closing low for the year of ¥7,400; it has lost 16.4% over the past five days.