TOKYO: Tokyo stocks ended the morning session flat Wednesday, recovering from an early sell-off that came on the back of a stronger yen.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange edged up 0.46 points to 19,909.14 by the break, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares ticked up 0.88 points to 1,591.70.
The Japanese market has been on a roll, with the Nikkei briefly crossing the 20,000 level on Friday for the first time in 15 years.
"There's still a feeling of overbuying left in the market," Hiroichi Nishi, an equities manager at SMBC Nikko Securities, told Bloomberg News.
"We're at a stage where we see buying if the numbers are surprisingly good" for company earnings, he added.
Japanese reporting season gets into full swing later this month with the weak yen offering hope for bumper fiscal-year profits, while pension fund buying has also supported Tokyo stocks.
But the Nikkei opened in the red Wednesday, pressured by a firmer yen following a worse-than-expected March US retail sales report.
However, the dollar picked up slightly by midday to 119.64 yen from 119.44 yen in New York, although it was still down from the 119.80 yen earlier Tuesday in Tokyo.
A stronger yen is a negative for Japanese exporters profitability.
Toyota shares slipped 0.04 percent to 8,282.0 yen by the break, Hitachi lost 1.28 percent to 804.8 yen, while banking giant Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group lost 0.66 percent to 4,717.5 yen.
Rival lender Mitsubishi UFJ rose 0.71 percent to 785.5 yen while Sony gained 0.52 percent to 3,769.5 yen.
Wall Street finished mostly higher Tuesday following mixed corporate earnings news.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.33 percent while the broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.16 percent but the Nasdaq fell 0.22 percent.
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