Stocks close flat

Tokyo stocks closed flat Thursday, a day after the Nikkei 225 index posted its sharpest rise in two months, while analysts said there were lingering concerns about the impact of this month's sales tax rise in Japan.

The benchmark Nikkei -- which soared 3.01% on Wednesday -- edged down 0.15 points to 14,417.53, while the Topix index of all first-section shares also closed flat, inching up 0.04 points to close at 1,166.59.

The Nikkei spent much of the day in the red, despite a rally on Wall Street fuelled by an upbeat report on the U.S. economy, a Federal Reserve pledge to keep interest rates low and positive corporate results.

Investors booked profits after Wednesday's surge, dealers said, as Japan heads into its latest corporate earnings season.

"No big orders are coming in from overseas investors but there is some targeted buying of maritime shippers," said a trading director at a foreign brokerage.

"Earnings expectations from firms expected to report results in coming days have been pretty encouraging," the trader added.

In currency markets, the dollar drifted lower as the upbeat U.S. housing and factory output data and dovish comments from Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen suggested the central bank would hold steady on the pace of its stimulus tapering.

In Tokyo afternoon trade, the greenback slipped to 102.02 yen from 102.25 yen in New York on Wednesday. A stronger yen is bad for shares of Japanese exporters as it dents their profitability.

© (c) 2014 AFP