In Tokyo on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 dropped 0.3 percent to close at 17,485.30 as the yen strengthened after recent weakness. The decline came after the index achieved another six-year high early in the session. Despite this, many analysts believe that advances will be limited this year due to shares that they believe are too highly valued at present.
Some export-focused stocks were hurt by the currency’s gains. Printer and copier maker Canon fell 1.2 percent to ¥6,530. But not all exporters declined on the session. Helped by good results in tech stocks in the US, Sony added 1.6 percent to ¥5,720.
There were gains in the pharmaceuticals sector. Chugai Pharmaceutical added 6.5 percent to ¥2,715 after it announced, along with partner Roche, that studies for its new rheumatoid arthritis drug were proceeding well.
Shipper were higher after positive comments from Mizuho Securities. Mitsui OSK Lines was 1.1 percent higher to ¥1,264, while Kawasaki Kisen gained 1.15 percent to ¥1,053.
Yahoo Japan, up 1.05 percent to ¥48,250, reported that its quarterly profits were up by 20 percent.
The real estate sector, which has added more than 40 percent since last July, continued to rise even though some analysts believe that stocks are currently overvalued. Mitsui Fudosan added 1.6 percent on the session to ¥3,100.