TOKYO: Japanese shares edged down in the morning session on Thursday as choppy trade saw both pressure from profit-takers and buying after gains on Wall Street.
The Nikkei index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange opened in positive territory, but later softened and ended the morning session down 36.34 points or 0.41 percent to 8,847.35.
The Topix index of all first section shares lost 2.67 points or 0.35 percent to 764.73. Profit-taking came after the Tokyo bourse began to seem overheated, having gained more than five percent in less than two weeks, analysts said.
"The Nikkei's upside looks heavy," Fumiyuki Nakanishi, SMBC Friend Securities general manager of investment and research, told Dow Jones Newswires.
The Tokyo market was lifted in early trade by overnight gains on Wall Street as investors cheered the US Federal Reserve's decision to keep its key interest rate at "exceptionally low levels" through at least 2014, extending the earlier time frame of mid-2013.
Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said the US economy needs more time to ensure stable growth, citing "headwinds coming from Europe".
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.66 percent on Wednesday to finish at 12,758.85 and the broad-based S&P 500 advanced 0.87 percent to 1,326.06.
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite was the biggest gainer, adding 1.14 percent to 2,818.31, lifted by Apple's record-breaking earnings reported after the market closed Tuesday.
In Asian forex trade, the euro bought $1.3106 and 101.93 yen in Tokyo Thursday, compared with $1.3103 and 101.94 yen in New York Wednesday afternoon. The dollar bought 77.76 yen, compared with 77.80 yen in New York.
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