Japan shares down 0.37pc

The benchmark Nikkei-225 index fell 35.43 points to 9,594.00 by the break. The Topix index of all first-section issues fell 0.34 percent or 2.78 points to 826.21.

Sentiment was 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, known as quantitative easing.

"The major concern for markets remains the depth and length of the current 'soft patch'," Credit Agricole said in a note to clients.

"The Fed believes it will be temporary and we concur, but clearly the slide in equity markets over recent weeks suggests that there has been a divergence between stock market expectations and reality."

In addition, the Nikkei was due for a pullback after three straight days of gains a nearly 3.0 percent rise since Friday's close, said Yumi Nishimura, senior market analyst at Daiwa Securities.

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

He said global sales will be "significantly higher" than year-ago levels. Nissan rose 1.69 percent to 842 yen.

Isuzu Motors was up 3.69 percent after it issued an aggressive net profit projection for the current fiscal year on Wednesday.

The euro eased to $1.4303 in early Tokyo trade from $1.4349 late Wednesday in New York.

The dollar firmed to 80.58 yen from 80.31.Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this article.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011