Japanese stocks ended lower on Thursday after giving up earlier gains as the strong yen hurt overall sentiment, while trading was subdued ahead of the Christmas holiday.
The Nikkei share average dropped 0.5 per cent to 18,789.69. Although markets are open in Japan on Friday, many financial centres around the world are closed for the Christmas holidays.
The broader Topix shed 0.7 per cent to 1,523.62, with only 1.987 billon shares changing hands, compared to an average daily volume of 2.279 billion shares in the last 90 days. The JPX-Nikkei Index 400 declined 0.6 percent to 13,741.44.