TOKYO: Tokyo shares were flat in thin holiday trading, with Toshiba nosediving 20 percent after the firm said it might book a massive one-time loss.
Tokyo investors adjusted positions as they prepared to close out the year on Friday, while some foreign bourses returned from holidays, with the Nasdaq rising to a record finish and the Dow Jones industrial Average in striking distance of 20,000 points.
"The environment isn't bad, but with some foreign investors away on vacation, there are few participants and the market lacks momentum to push prices beyond recent highs," Chihiro Ohta, a senior strategist at SMBC Nikko Securities, told Bloomberg News.
Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index ended the morning session up 0.03 percent or 6.28 points at 19,409.34. The broader Topix index of all first-section issues edged up 0.06 percent or 0.92 points, to 1,537.14.
In currencies, the dollar stood at 117.66 yen, rising from 117.27 yen in Tokyo Tuesday.
Despite relative calm, shares in Toshiba dropped more than 20 percent -- their second straight double-digit plunge -- after it announced a possible one-time loss of several billion dollars over its US nuclear business.
Toshiba's stock price plummeted 20.42 percent to 311.60 yen, the largest fall allowed for a single day.
On Tuesday, the Tokyo-based conglomerate revealed that costs linked to the acquisition last year by its US subsidiary of a nuclear service company will possibly come to "several billion US dollars, resulting in a negative impact on Toshiba's financial results".
The exact figure of the potential write-down is not yet determined.
Analysts said that uncertainty was fuelling investor anxiety.
"Concerns have yet to be cleared away as they said they didn't know the figure," Yukihiko Shimada, senior analyst at SMBC Nikko, told AFP.
In other trading, Toyota edged up 0.07 percent to 6,973, while Uniqlo-brand operator Fast Retailing dropped 0.21 percent to 43,530.
Sony rose 0.87 percent to 3,353 and Panasonic gained 0.66 percent to 1,223.
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