TOKYO: Japanese shares edged up on Thursday, with technology stocks leading gains tracking overnight strength on the Wall Street, though caution ahead of the US economic data weighed on the sentiment.
The Nikkei share average edged up 0.07% to 27,598.11 by the midday break, after rising as much as 1%. The broader Topix gained 0.05% to 1,953.19.
Japanese markets are closed on Friday for a public holiday.
Wall Street jumped overnight, closing sharply higher as megacap growth stocks powered up, thanks to a pause in rising interest rates, and upbeat earnings reports also encouraged investors to buy.
"The early gains on the Nikkei were cut because investors started selling shares as soon as the market showed a sign of a recovery," said Chihiro Ohta at the investment research and investor services at SMBC Nikko Securities.
"With the long weekend ahead of us and the US consumer data due out soon, there were not much reason for investors to buy."
Chip-related shares led gains on Nikkei's gains, with Tokyo Electron and Advantest rising 0.96% and 2.03%, respectively.
Honda Motor jumped 5.47% after the automaker raised its full-year operating forecast aided by cost cutting and a weak yen despite a persistent global chip shortage.
Rival Toyota Motor lost 3.52%.
Technology investor SoftBank Group lost 3.01% and weighed on the Nikkei the most, followed by health equipment maker Terumo, which fell 3.89%.
Delivery services firm Yamato Holdings tanked 13.16% and was the worst performer on Nikkei.