TOKYO, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks ended flat on Wednesday as cautious investors took a wait-and-see approach ahead of this week's release of key U.S. inflation data.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average edged down 4.42 points, or 0.02 percent, from Tuesday to close the day at 26,396.83.
The broader Topix index, meanwhile, lost 2.24 points, or 0.12 percent, to finish at 1,869.00.
On the top-tier Prime Market, decliners were led by mining, metal product, and electric power and gas issues.
The Japanese yen plunged to fresh 24-year lows, falling as far as 146.39 versus the U.S. dollar on Wednesday in Tokyo amid persistent prospects of aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.
Japan's Finance Ministry conducted a yen-buying, dollar-selling intervention for the first time since 1998 to prop up the Japanese currency last month when it fell beyond 145.9.
The dollar was bought globally as last week's stronger-than-expected U.S. employment data reinforced the view that the U.S. Federal Reserve will continue with aggressive rate hikes to combat inflation.
However, as investors remained cautious that Japan may conduct another intervention, the yen's decline was limited, said Yukio Ishizuki, a senior foreign exchange strategist at Daiwa Securities Co.
Some Japanese exporters can benefit from a weaker yen with cheaper foreign sales. Topix transportation equipment stocks climbed 0.34 percent, though that included several automakers like Mitsubishi Motor that lost.
Overall, the market was directionless throughout the day with both indexes trading around the previous day's closing levels as it awaited Thursday's Consumer Price Index (CPI) report in the U.S.
Market players are now eyeing the U.S. CPI data for September to garner cues for the Fed's rate hikes, with analysts saying that the CPI has often caused turbulence until now, so a lot of investors want to wait and see what happens.
The Tokyo market on Wednesday continued to be weighed down by semiconductor-related shares, which were hit hard by Friday's U.S. announcement of new export controls.
The biggest loser on the Nikkei was semiconductor equipment maker Tokyo Electron Ltd, which fell 4.4 percent amid ongoing struggles in the chips industry, while the chip-testing equipment maker Advantest was down 2.86 percent.
Among Prime Market issues, declining issues outnumbered advancers 981 to 775, while 80 ended unchanged.
Trading volume on the Prime Market fell to 1,164.94 million shares from Tuesday's 1,296.46 million. ■
