TOKYO, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) - Tokyo stocks were almost flat Friday morning, as buying driven by overnight gains on Wall Street was offset by Nikkei heavyweight SoftBank Group's plunge in thin Christmas Day trading which dragged down the broader market.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average shed 8.36 points, or 0.03 percent, from Thursday to 26,659.99.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange edged up 2.19 points, or 0.12 percent, to 1,776.46.

Information and communication and service issues led notable decliners, while marine transportation and construction-linked issues comprised those that declined the most by the morning break.