Japanese shares edged down Friday morning as investors took to the sidelines ahead of the central bank's monetary policy decision, according to dpa. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average shed 10.71 points, or 0.11 per cent, to trade at 9,551.12 at the end of the morning session at 11:30 am (0230 GMT). The broader Topix index lost 1.97 points, or 0.24 per cent, at 808.13. The Bank of Japan was expected to decide later in the day to expand an asset-purchase programme to 70 trillion yen (864 billion dollars) from 65 trillion yen to help prop up the nation's economy, the Nikkei business daily reported. The central bank was to issue its monetary policy decision after a meeting. Japan's unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.5 per cent in March, the government said. The government also reported Japan's industrial production edged up a seasonally adjusted 1 per cent in March from the previous month, the first rise in two months, and that the nation's core consumer price index, which excludes fresh food, climbed 0.2 per cent in March from a year earlier for the second consecutive month of increase. On currency markets at 11:30 am in Tokyo, the dollar traded at 80.91-94 yen, down from Thursday's 5 pm quote of 81.11-12 yen. The euro was quoted at 106.77-80 yen, down from 107.52-56 yen late Thursday, and at 1.3192-3196 dollars, down from 1.3256-3257 dollars.
