In Tokyo on Wednesday the Nikkei 225 added 0.4 percent to 14,500.26, while the Topix index closed flat at 1,475.42. While export-focused sectors seemed to find gains, domestic stocks were more likely to be losers for the day.
The steel sector was higher. While JFE ended the day where it started, at ¥4,480, Japan Steel Works added 1.3 percent to ¥640 and Nippon Steel gained 3.5 percent to ¥444 on the news that it will maintain its current alliance with Arcelor.
Consumer electronics stocks were mixed. Canon dropped 1 percent to ¥5,240 on the news that Dell will soon enter the Japanese color printer market with products at half the current price. On the other hand, Matsushita Electric Industrial was up 0.7 percent to ¥2,100 and Sony gained 1.1 percent to ¥4,670.
The automobile manufacturing sector was also mixed on the session. While Honda was 0.3 percent higher to ¥3,480 and Toyota added 0.9 percent to ¥870, Nissan dropped 0.2 percent to ¥1,162.
In the machinery sector, Komatsu gained 1.7 percent to ¥2,030. Industrial robots manufacturer Fanuc, meanwhile, added 3.1 percent to ¥9,280.
The banking sector was down 0.7 percent as a whole. Mizuho dropped 0.4 percent to ¥928,000, while Mitsubishi UFJ declined by 0.7 percent to ¥1,510,000 and Sumitomo Mitsui fell by 0.8 percent to ¥1,200,000.
Airlines did even worse, losing 3.6 percent as a sector. All Nippon Airways was down 1.9 percent to ¥412, while Japan Airlines dropped 6.8 percent to ¥220 after it altered the allotment of a new share offering.