Profit-taking added to the cautious start to the day with some of the wind appearing to have come out of buyers' sails, having pushed valuations up for more than a week
Sino-US relations re-emerged as another key market focus as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with top Chinese officials on March 18 in Alaska, the White House said on Wednesday, the first high-level in-person contact between the two sparring countries under the Biden administration.
Eyes are now on the European Central Bank's policy meeting later in the day, which will be followed for its outlook on interest rates and its vast bond-buying programme as the world economy recovers from last year's collapse.
Bio-tech firm JCR Pharmaceuticals rallied 5.9 percent to 2,904 yen after a report said it will produce undiluted Covid-19 vaccine developed by the British drug group AstraZeneca and Oxford University.
