Japanese shares climbed Friday morning led by resources-oriented issues such as miners, according to dpa. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 35.62 points, or 0.4 per cent, to stand at 8,885.09 at the end of morning trading at 11:30 am (0230 GMT). The broader Topix index was up 1.71 points, or 0.22 per cent, at 766.32. Shares in NEC Corp plunged 7.14 per cent after the company said Thursday it will slash 10,000 domestic and overseas jobs and that it expected to end the current financial year through March in the red with a net loss of 100 billion yen (1.29 billion US dollars), a reversal from a net profit of 15 billion yen it had projected. Japan's consumer prices index, which excludes fresh food, declined 0.1 per cent in December from a year earlier for the third straight month of drop, the government said. On currency markets at 11:40 am, the dollar traded at 77.42-44 yen, down from Thursday's 5 pm quote of 77.53-55 yen. The euro was quoted at 101.42-44 yen, down from 101.59-63 yen late Thursday, and at 1.3099-3102 dollars, little changed from 1.3103-3105 dollars.
