TOKYO: Tokyo stocks ended flat Tuesday as a stronger yen weighed on Japan's premier bourse following a tumble on Wall Street.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.07 percent, or 9.81 points, to 14,732.61, while the Topix index of all first-section shares lost 0.34 percent, or 4.11 points, to 1,214.87.
Tuesday's decline followed a three-day weekend in Japan.
"Support for equities generally remains strong, but the market still feels short-term overheated, and the dollar's slide will only add another profit-taking incentive," said SMBC Nikko Securities general manager of equities Hiroichi Nishi.
The Nikkei had gained more than five percent in the past two weeks as investors cheered Tokyo's 2020 Olympics bid win, with real-estate and construction firms among the biggest beneficiaries.
Lixil Group dropped 6.32 percent to 2,043 yen following a news report that the Japanese building materials and housing equipment maker is in advanced talks to buy Germany's Grohe in a multi-billion dollar deal.
In other trading, Toyota slipped 0.61 percent to 6,440 yen, Sony lost 1.64 percent to 2,097 yen, while rival Sharp gave up 1.62 percent to 363 yen.
In Tokyo forex trading, the greenback bought 98.87 yen, nearly unchanged from New York overnight but down from levels above 99 yen in Asia earlier Monday.
US stocks closed in negative territory Monday, adding to Friday's losses, amid uncertainty about the Federal Reserve's stimulus after it kept the scheme unchanged at its latest policy meeting last week.
The Dow fell 0.32 percent, the S&P 500 lost 0.47 percent and the Nasdaq shed 0.25 percent.
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