As the Bank of Japan began its two days of meetings ahead of announcing a new decision on interest rates, the Nikkei 225 closed even Tuesday at 17,939.12, while the Topix index added 0.2 percent to 1,782.73. Investors remained cautious ahead of the Bank’s announcement, scheduled for Wednesday, while analysts were divided over whether rate would go up or not. The banking sector fell 0.2 percent amid uncertainty over what the Bank will decide.

Bids news was in focus. In the automobile manufacturing sector, the news that Volvo (Stockholm Stock Exchange: VOLV A, VOLV B; NASDAQ: VOLV) will acquire Nissan Diesel Motor (TYO: 7210) produced so many buy orders at ¥523, 18.1 percent higher than at the close on Monday, that the company’s shares did not trade on the session.

In the steel sector, Nippon Steel (TYO: 5401) added 2.6 percent and Nakayama Steel Works (TYO: 5408) was 6.6 percent higher after Nippon said that it has increased its stake in Nakayama to 8.72 percent. Nippon closed at ¥785, while Nakayama ended the session at ¥501. Elsewhere in the sector, Sumitomo Metal Mining (TYO: 5405) gained 4.1 percent to ¥1,890, while Japan Steel Works was up 7.4 percent to ¥1,214.

EAccess (TYO:9427) was 6 percent higher to ¥83,000 after its mobile phone division said it would start offering wireless data services at the end of March.

Equities markets in Tokyo were slightly lower on Monday on declines in the securities and steel sectors. Semiconductors were down as well, while electronics were mixed and paper and pulp saw increases during the day. The Nikkei 225 fell 0.2 percent to 14,794.5, while the Topix index was down 0.1 percent to 1,514.22.

The steel sector was especially hard hit. Japan Steel Works fell just 0.2 percent to ¥656, while Kobe Steel dropped 3 percent to ¥326 and JFE was down by 4.6 percent to ¥4,380. Tokyo Steel, hurt by a quarterly report that showed earnings down 42.6 percent in the quarter, declined by 17.1 percent to ¥1,945.

The semiconductor sector was hurt by a profit warning from computer maker Dell. Advantest fell 1.4 percent to ¥10,930, while Tokyo Electron dropped 3.8 percent to ¥7,120.

Among electronics companies, Sony was down 0.6 percent to ¥4,810 and NEC fell by 2.1 percent to ¥566. On the other hand, Matsushita Electric Industrial gained 2.7 percent to ¥2,245, while Sharp was up 4.4 percent to ¥1,836.

The securities sector saw losses after Goldman Sachs issued a reduced forecast for the sector as a whole in the wake of first-quarter earnings reports from the four largest brokerages in Japan. Nomura fell 0.3 percent to ¥2,015, while Mitsubishi UFJ Securities was down 1.5 percent to ¥1,273 and Daiwa Securities was 2.7 percent lower to ¥1,226.

Prospects for consolidation sent the paper and pulp sector higher after Oji Paper made an unsolicited offer for Hokuetsu Paper Mills. Hokuetsu, in an effort to fend off the bid, offered to sell 50 million new shares to Mitsubishi Paper Mills. The news sent Oji Paper 2.3 percent higher to ¥656, while Mitsubishi Paper Mills was up 9.8 percent to ¥224 and Hokuetsu added 15.8 percent to ¥735.

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.