Japan shares close 0.34pc lower in mixed trade

TOKYO: Japanese shares fell 0.34 percent Thursday as expectations of a positive outlook for automakers were offset by the US central bank's downbeat assessment of the world's number one economy, dealers said.

The benchmark Nikkei-225 index closed 32.69 points lower at 9,596.74. The Topix index of all first-section issues sagged 0.42 percent or 3.48 points to 825.51.

The key Japanese index moved into positive territory in early trade thanks to bullishness that auto companies would see a strong rebound from the production trough caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Hideyuki Ishiguro, strategist at Okasan Securities, said market players were eagerly waiting Nissan Motor's earnings forecast after the close following chief executive Carlos Ghosn's upbeat comments Wednesday.

Nissan rose 1.32 percent to 839 yen.

After the closing bell, the firm said it expected annual net profit to fall due to the March disaster but global sales to rise 9.9 percent in the year to 4.6 million units.

And Isuzu Motors was up 3.40 percent after it issued an aggressive net profit projection for the current fiscal year on Wednesday.

"The mood is clearly turning positive, but investors are still waiting to see how the global markets will digest the end of the US Fed's second round of quantitative easing," said Cosmo Securities strategist Toshikazu Horiuchi.

Overall sentiment remained subdued after the Fed downgraded its assessment of the US economy, and its chairman Ben Bernanke gave no indication that it intends to undertake another round of asset purchasing, or quantitative easing (QE).

"The Fed statement was largely as expected confirming our view that the bar to any potential QE3 is quite high," Barclays Capital said in a note to clients.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011