Tokyo stocks end morning flat on Trump concerns

Tokyo stocks ended the morning flat Wednesday as a weaker yen and a strong lead from Wall Street were offset by lingering concerns about the future of Donald Trump's economy-boosting agenda.

Wall Street scored solid gains Tuesday to snap an eight-day losing streak for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, as higher oil prices and a record reading on US consumer confidence boosted sentiment.

The dollar traded at 111.27 yen in early Asian trade, unchanged from New York late Tuesday but higher than the mid-110 yen levels in Asia earlier that day.

A weaker yen helps boost the profitability of exporters and spurs demand for their shares.

But investors in Japanese stocks, who often take their cue from US movements, were cautious.

"The cheaper yen is positive for Japan stocks", said Mitsushige Akino, an executive officer at Ichiyoshi Investment Management, who also cited the rebound on Wall Street.

"But the upward trend is limited amid uncertainties over the Trump administration," he told Bloomberg News, referring to the US president's ability to pursue his economic reform plans following failure last week to pass healthcare legislation.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was marginally lower, edging down 5.52 points to 19,197.35 by the break, while the Topix index of all first-section issues fell 0.19 percent, or 2.87 points, to 1,541.96.

Toshiba was up 1.19 percent at 219.8 yen after a report in the Nikkei business newspaper that its board has approved a plan to place its US nuclear unit Westinghouse in bankruptcy protection.

Kansai Electric Power jumped 9.27 percent to 1,402 yen, after an appeals court overturned a temporary injunction that barred the operation of two of its nuclear reactors.

Toyota was down 1.41 percent at 6,130 yen while its rival Honda was up 0.96 percent at 3,436 yen.

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