TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Tokyo stocks fell Friday morning as investors locked in gains following a recent market rally that was helped by speculation the government will delay a consumption tax hike.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average shed 62.40 points, or 0.36 percent, from Thursday to 17.330.39. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was down 0.55 point, or 0.04 percent, to 1,388.96.

The market opened higher, with the Nikkei briefly reaching 17,520.54, the highest level since July 26, 2007 on an intraday basis, following an overnight rise to a record high in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

But once initial buying ran its course, the market fell into minus territory, dragged down by profit-taking after the Nikkei rose around 3.6 percent over the past three trading days.

Takashi Hiroki, chief strategist at Monex Inc., said market players have already priced in a delay in the tax hike planned for next October and a snap general election, which contributed to the buoyant tone in the market this week.

"It seems to be almost decided, judging from recent media reports," he added.

A postponement in the consumption tax hike to 10 percent from 8 percent could be seen as support for the faltering Japanese economy as the nation's personal spending remains sluggish after the 3-percentage-point tax hike in April.

On the First Section, falling issues outnumbered rising ones 863 to 806, while 165 ended the morning session unchanged.

Decliners were led by oil and coal products, communications and foods issues, but metal products and precision instruments gained ground.

The Nikkei's heavyweight components led the overall market's decline, with KDDI falling 134 yen, or 1.8 percent, to 7,500 yen and Softbank down 113 yen, or 1.4 percent, to 8,059 yen.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group tumbled 120.00 yen, or 2.7 percent, to 4,406.50 yen a day after releasing its earnings report for the April-September period, which said its group net profit decreased 5.2 percent from a year earlier to 479.55 billion yen.

Home builder Sekisui House soared 87 yen, or 5.9 percent, to 1,573 yen on its Thursday announcement of an upward revision of its earnings outlook in the current business year through January and buybacks of up to 1.44 percent of its outstanding shares.