Tokyo - Tokyo stocks ended 0.14 percent lower Wednesday after a lacklustre session on Wall Street, while the yen picked up against the dollar.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange edged down 24.04 points to 17 383.58, while the Topix index of all first-section issues lost 0.20 percent, or 2.75 points, at 1 406.40.
The US Commerce Department said Tuesday that third-quarter growth came in at 3.9 percent, up from a previous estimate of 3.5 percent and easily beating expectations for 3.2 percent.
The figures are the latest showing the world's number one economy is on a healthy recovery track, while those in the eurozone and Japan struggle.
However, the result was offset by figures showing consumer confidence dipped in November.
On Wall Street, the Dow dipped 0.02 percent and the S&P 500 retreated 0.12 percent.
However, the Nasdaq added 0.07 percent.
“After a consistent string of dollar surges over the last month, we may finally be entering a 'cooling off period' for the greenback - at least against the yen,” said Tatsunori Kawai, chief strategist at kabu.com Securities.
A cheaper yen tends to boost exporters by making their products more competitive overseas and inflating the value of repatriated earnings.
The dollar might pick up again, should the Bank of Japan launch further easing measures after it unexpectedly expanded its existing programme last month, Kawai said.
“But another round of quantitative easing is not likely for months to come, and the stock market has already priced in all the central bank's moves,” he told Dow Jones Newswires.
The dollar bought 117.77 yen, down from 117.97 yen in New York.
On Tuesday, BoJ head Haruhiko Kuroda said policymakers were wary of the impact of the yen's sharp decline on the economy, as it weighs on household incomes and hurts smaller firms' earnings because of rising import costs.
“There is going to be a limit to the dollar's rise, and at some point the currency markets will reach a consolidation point,” said Hajime Kitano, Japan equity strategist at Barclays.
The “dollar-yen pair may be poised for a pullback soon”, he said.
In share trading, Toyota edged down 0.14 percent to 7 180 yen, Sony fell 1.32 percent to 2 548.5 yen and Canon dropped 0.23 percent to 3 766.5 yen.
Honda fell 2.89 percent to 3 633.50 yen after saying this week an audit showed that it had under-reported problems regarding its vehicles to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Honda and auto parts maker Takata are embroiled in a scandal over potentially defective airbags linked to several deaths and hundreds of injuries.
Takata shares fell 6.73 percent to 1 357.0 yen, as a senior company executive is sent back to Washington for a new hearing over the company's faulty airbags. - Sapa-AFP