Wall Street stocks finished little changed as renewed concerns about higher interest rates offset strong manufacturing data and a rally in petroleum-linked shares.
Among blue-chip stocks, Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing added 2.82 percent to 88,520 yen. SoftBank Group rose 1.71 percent to 8,575 yen. Robot maker Fanuc surged 2.60 percent to 25,215 yen.
Major automakers were also lower with Toyota falling 2.44 percent to 8,212 yen, Honda sinking 2.59 percent to 3,189 yen and Nissan losing 1.84 percent to 546.9 yen.
Other automakers were also lower, with Toyota trading down 1.38 percent at 8,302 yen, Honda off 1.71 percent at 3,218 yen and Nissan down 2.55 percent at 543 yen.
But analysts said that a combination of dollar weakness and a lull in fresh data ahead of upcoming corporate results had conspired to tamp down enthusiasm.
In Tokyo, chip-testing equipment manufacturer Advantest jumped 1.79 percent to 10,800 yen and electronic parts maker Kyocera was up 1.43 percent at 7,210 yen.
On Wall Street, the Dow and S&P again closed at records, as US traders continued to bet Covid-19 vaccines and government stimulus would heal the US economy.
Takeda Pharmaceutical jumped 3.18 percent to 3,793 yen after reports said its partner US biotech firm Moderna is planning to file for approval of its coronavirus vaccine in Japan as early as Friday.