Tokyo stocks fell slightly Friday, the final trading day of the year, but the Nikkei stock index gained 19 percent in 2017 to hit the highest year-end level in 26 years on the back of the global economic recovery.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average ended down 19.04 points, or 0.08 percent, from Thursday at 22,764.94. The index surpassed the previous year-end close for the sixth straight year. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange finished 1.47 points, or 0.08 percent, lower at 1,817.56.

Decliners were led by food, chemical and service issues.

The Nikkei rose for the sixth straight year, posting the longest yearly gain since the collapse in the early 1990s of Japan's asset-inflated bubble economy. The key index started 2017 above 19,000 but slipped below 18,500 in April before rebounding to finish the year above 22,500.

Looking back on the year, "the market's main driver was a pick-up in global growth" that pushed up corporate profits and commodity prices, said Maki Sawada, vice president of the investment research and investor services department at Nomura Securities Co., adding she believes the trend will continue in 2018.

Domestic political stability after an overwhelming victory for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party in October's general election, the Bank of Japan's continued monetary easing policy and a relatively weak tone in the Japanese yen against the U.S. dollar also helped lifted the market, brokers said.

On Friday, the Nikkei index briefly rose above 22,800 after major U.S. stock indexes gained momentum the previous day, but it gradually drifted lower later with investors cashing in on gains.

"Investors are worried there might be unforeseen developments in overseas markets while Tokyo is closed, so many locked in gains," said Toshikazu Horiuchi, equity strategist at IwaiCosmo Securities Co.

The Tokyo stock market reopens Jan. 4.

"Some investors refrained from chasing higher prices as they took a wait-and-see stance about major economic data due out next week," including U.S. December manufacturing and jobs data, Sawada at Nomura Securities said.

On the First Section, advancing issues outnumbered decliners 1,030 to 914 with 119 ending the day unchanged.

Menswear store operator Adastria dived 210 yen, or 8.4 percent, to 2,279 yen, after the company said Thursday it posted a nearly 50 percent fall in operating profit from a year earlier for the March-November period.

Asahi Glass was up 95 yen, or 2.0 percent, to 4,880 yen after the Nikkei business daily reported the company is expected to post a larger-than-expected operating profit for 2017.

Nonferrous metal and trading house shares got a boost after copper prices rose on Thursday in London, brokers said. Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal rose 0.50 yen, or 0.01 percent, to 2,891.00 yen, while Itochu gained 6.50 yen, or 0.3 percent, to 2,103.00 yen.

Trading volume on the main section fell to 889.15 million shares from Thursday's 997.36 million shares.