Japanese shares are likely to stay within a tight range in the final trading week of 2010 with many players sitting it out for the holiday season, analysts said Friday. "With the US and European markets taking breaks and trading thinning as the year-end approaches, the market's movement is likely to be limited," Nomura Securities said in a note to clients.
Japanese shares moved little in the past trading week ending on December 24, as many international players left the market for Christmas.
The Nikkei index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange eased 0.24 percent or 24.64 points to 10,279.19. The Topix index of all first section shares slipped 0.16 percent or 1.48 points to 901.66.
Japanese shares rallied earlier in the week, reaching a seven-month high on Tuesday.
But the market softened toward the weekend due to profit taking on worries about overheating, as well as continued financial woes in the eurozone economies such as Portugal and Spain.
Market reaction was muted on Tuesday to the Bank of Japan's widely expected decision to keep its policy interest-rate target near zero.
Nomura Securities said it expected the Nikkei index to hover between 10,000 and 10,500 in the coming week.