Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei index ended flat Thursday as late buying offset early losses with the market sitting around 15-year highs. The Nikkei 225 at the Tokyo Stock Exchange inched up 16.01 points to end at 19,885.77, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares rose 0.67 percent, or 10.61 points, to 1,599.42.
"Selective shares, led by banks, gained toward the end of trading," said Kenzaburo Suwa, a strategist at Okasan Securities.
"Profit-taking is still shadowing the market after the Nikkei index hit the 20,000 mark on Friday for the first time since 2000.
"But Tokyo's overall sentiment is not so bad as risk-on funds are still flowing into Tokyo. In the mid- and long-term, Tokyo shares should still be a buy."
The Japanese market has been on a roll and corporate 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 provided support.
In forex markets, the dollar was slightly stronger at 119.34 yen, up from 119.14 yen in New York but still down from above the 120 yen mark earlier in the week.
The greenback took a hit on worse-than-expected US industrial production data, which came after a disappointing retail sales report.
In Tokyo share trading, Sony fell 2.31 percent to 3,692.0 yen, while Japan's biggest bank Mitsubishi UFJ rose 2.76 percent to 805.3 yen. Toyota cast off early losses, rising 0.43 percent to 8,309.0 yen after saying it was ending a freeze on building new factories, with plans for a $1.0 billion plant in Mexico and another production line in China.
Energy explorer Inpex jumped 5.37 percent to 1,489.5 yen after US oil prices shot up to a 2015 peak on Wednesday. But the jump in oil rates hurt airline shares, with Japan Airlines falling 2.03 percent to 3,850.0 yen and All Nippon Airways down 0.59 percent at 334.7 yen.
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