TOKYO: Tokyo stocks were flat by the break Thursday after hitting a three-month high in the previous session while investors await the release next week of Japanese growth data and a central bank policy meeting.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange edged up 5.65 points to 19,697.04, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares was marginally lower, dipping 0.43 points to 1,594.89.
US stocks finished lower Wednesday as sinking oil prices and worries about US retail sales ahead of the holiday season hit confidence.
"It is likely that Japanese markets will be more on hold," Mitsushige Akino, executive officer at Ichiyoshi Asset Management Co., told Bloomberg News.
"Japanese markets have been pushed to the limit as well as US stocks, and we haven't had bullish factors to lift markets at the moment."
Focus is now on Monday's release of gross domestic product figures for July-September and a two-day Bank of Japan gathering later in the week.
In share trading, weaker oil prices took a bite out of energy companies, with petroleum explorer Inpex losing 1.56 percent to 1,198.
Inpex had advanced more than four percent the previous day after it cut its full year operating profit forecast by less than analysts had estimated.
Toyota ticked up 0.07 percent to 7,604 yen, while car maker Nissan edged 0.03 percent higher to 1,281.5 yen.
In currency trading, the dollar edged up to 122.95 yen from 122.84 yen Wednesday in New York.
The euro rose to $1.0764 and 132.34 yen from $1.0741 and 131.94 yen in US trade.
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