Japan’s Nikkei share average wobbled on Wednesday, undermined by a stronger yen currency and a drop on Wall Street as investors fretted about the impact of some of the Trump administration’s policies.
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While market participants remain hopeful that U.S. President Donald Trump will return his focus to tax reform, fiscal stimulus and deregulation, his protectionist stances and immigration curbs weighed on overall sentiment.
"There are lots of concerns about his policy moves, particularly for Japan whenever he mentions the currency rate," said Harumi Taguchi, principal economist at IHS Markit in Tokyo.
The dollar slumped after Trump and trade adviser Peter Navarro on Tuesday singled out Japan, China and Germany as key U.S. trading partners engaged in devaluing their currencies.
The Nikkei was flat at the end of morning trade, at 19,040.74 points.
"Below 19,000, the Nikkei’s next support level lies at 18,800, and then at 18,500," said Yutaka Miura, a senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities.
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Later on Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to keep interest rates unchanged when it concludes its two-day meeting, its first policy decision since Trump took office, as it awaits greater clarity on his economic policies.
Earnings were in focus this week, with shares of Nintendo Co Ltd dropping 3.7 percent after it cut its full-year profit forecast due to weak sales of console games.
Shares of Omron Corp rose 6.6 percent after the Japanese electronics maker raised its operating profit guidance for the fiscal year through March.
Ricoh Co Ltd slipped 7.3 percent after posting a smaller net profit in the nine months through December and cutting its full year guidance.
Shares of steel group JFE Holdings Inc were up 3.6 percent, after it raised its operating profit forecast for its fiscal year through March.
The broader Topix slipped 0.3 percent to 1,517.67, while the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 also fell 0.3 percent to 13,608.00.
(Reporting by Tokyo markets team; Editing by Randy Fabi)
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