Around the World's Markets: Tokyo

JAPANESE STOCKS finished little changed, as enthusiasm for hi- tech issues prompted by another record performance on the Nasdaq index was off-set by profit-taking following Thursday's rally.

The Nikkei finished up 6.77 points or 0.04 per cent at 18,354.90. It recovered from an earlier decline in afternoon trade, helped by gains by large cap issues such as Sony.

"The market was bogged down by profit-taking in the morning, but high- techs did quite well after the Nasdaq rally," said one analyst.