Tokyo  - Tokyo stocks fell Friday, led by financial issues, after consumer lender Aiful Corp said it was asking its creditors to delay debt repayments.

Investors were already cautious ahead of a five-day weekend in Japan. Stock markets are closed from Monday to Wednesday.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average tumbled 73.26 points, or 0.7 per cent, to end at to 10,370.54.

The broader-based Topix index almost flatlined, losing 0.08 points, or 0.01 per cent, to 939.44.

For the week, the Nikkei was down 0.7 per cent, while the Topix dropped 1.2 per cent.

Aiful stocks were not traded Friday, with shares offered 27 per cent lower. Japan's third-largest consumer lender asked creditors to partly delay payments of a total volume of 300 billion yen (3.3 billion dollars).

Investors also retreated from other consumer lenders over concerns of plans by the new government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to introduce stricter regulations. Financial Services Minister Shizuka Kamei is pushing for a debt repayment moratorium in a bid to support small businesses, which caused pressure on other financial titles.

On currency markets at noon (0300 GMT), the dollar traded at 91.33-35 yen, up from Thursday's 5 pm quote of 90.55-58 yen.

The euro traded at 1.4703-05 dollars, down from late Thursday's quote of 1.4742-45 dollars, and at 134.30-37 yen, up from 132.52-56 yen. (dpa)