Nikkei closes flat

The Japan share market closed steady after recovering from an early fall on Thursday, 17 November 2016, as a rally fuelled by a weaker yen lost steam. Stocks met with selling to lock in profits at the beginning of Thursday's trading after the 30-issue Dow Jones industrial average snapped its seven session winning streak on Wednesday. In particular, financial issues and export-oriented names took a beating, as investors grew wary after the two sectors led the recent market surge. But the Nikkei average turned higher in midmorning trading, as the dollar retook 109 yen after the Bank of Japan offered to buy Japanese government bonds at designated yields for the first time since it introduced the fixed-rate JGB buying operation in September. In the afternoon, the key market gauge fluctuated around the previous day's closing level, with its downside supported by the dollar's stable moves around 109 yen. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 0.42 point to 17,862.63, the best level since early February, while the broader Topix index of all first-section issues was up 0.1%, or 1.43 points, at 1,423.08.

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