Tokyo stocks closed lower on Wednesday, tracking falls on Wall Street, as investors focused on corporate earnings that have been decimated by the coronavirus pandemic.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.49 percent, or 99.43 points, to end at 20,267.05, while the broader Topix index slipped 0.14 percent, or 2.03 points, to 1,474.69.
"Japanese full-year earnings reports will peak this week and many companies are going to defer the announcement of their forecasts," said Okasan Online Securities.
Traders are watching them with "uncertainty about the prospects of corporate performances likely to cap the upside" for share prices in the medium term, they said.
The dollar fetched 107.12 yen in Asian trade, against 107.14 yen in New York late Tuesday.
In Tokyo, major shares were lower, with Uniqlo casual wear operator Fast Retailing trading dropping 2.87 percent to 51,720 yen, and telecom and investment giant SoftBank Group falling 0.99 percent to 4,657 yen.
Toyota lost 2.19 percent to 6,384 yen a day after it said its operating profit for the fiscal year ending in March 2021 was expected to dive 79.5 percent due to the pandemic.
Cosmetic giant Shiseido tumbled 4.21 percent to 6,342 yen after it reported a 95.8-percent drop in its net profit for the January-March period compared to the same period last year.
Sony was flat, inching down 0.02 percent to 7,069 yen, ahead of its earnings report.
Immediately after the market closed the company said its annual net profit tumbled 36.5 percent.
