Japan's Nikkei ends marginally lower

Japanese markets ended little changed and the U.S. dollar dropped to the lower 157-yen range after Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said in a speech that the central bank would discuss whether to raise interest rates at its monetary policy meeting next week.

The Nikkei average finished marginally lower at 38,444.58, extending its losing streak to five days and hitting its lowest level in over a month. The broader Topix index settled 0.31 percent higher at 2,690.81.

Nintendo shares rallied 2.5 percent amid expectations the games giant will soon release its much-anticipated Switch 2 console.

The M2 money stock in Japan was up 3.2 percent on year in December, the Bank of Japan said on Wednesday - coming in at 1,257.7 trillion yen.

The M3 money stock rose an annual 0.8 percent to 1,609.5 trillion yen, while M1 was up 1.3 percent to 1,096.5 trillion yen.

The L money stock climbed 3.7 percent on year to 2,195.6 trillion yen following the 3.5 percent increase in the previous month.

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