TOKYO: Tokyo stocks ended flat Tuesday as a wait-and-see mood prevailed hours before the US votes in its nail-biter presidential election.
The Tokyo market got off to a firm start but eventually gave up early gains as caution set in.
"It's difficult to say until we see the results, but shares do seem to be pricing in a Clinton victory," Ryuta Otsuka, a strategist at Toyo Securities Co, told Bloomberg News. "We started high but we're now stumbling."
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.03 percent, or 5.83 points, to 17,171.38 while the Topix index of all first-section issues was up 0.05 percent, or 0.69 points, at 1,363.49.
Global markets rose on Monday after US authorities again cleared Clinton of criminal wrongdoing over her handling of e-mails from a private server.
Her White House rival Donald Trump is viewed as a wild card by markets because of his unpredictability and broadsides against the Federal Reserve, free trade and other targets.
In Tokyo market heavyweight Fast Retailing, operator of casual fashion brand Uniqlo, fell 0.24 percent to 36,550 yen. SoftBank rose 1.27 percent to 6,445 yen after the mobile carrier said its first-half profits soared nearly 80 percent.
Nikon was up 1.29 percent at 1,647 yen after the Nikkei business daily reported it plans to eliminate about 1,000 jobs in Japan, or 10 percent of its domestic workforce, mainly in the loss-making sectors of cameras and microchip-making devices.
Toyota closed up 1.44 percent at 5,894 yen before the auto giant announced an upgrade of its annual profit view.
In forex markets, the dollar bought 104.37 yen against 104.53 yen in New York Monday.
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