Japan’s Nikkei index closed higher as sentiment improved on Chinese data

Japanese stocks ended flat on Thursday after a disappointing investor day for Tesla Inc and fears of a tighter US central bank monetary policy outweighed the yen’s decline.

The Nikkei index gave up gains made earlier in the session to end the transactions at 27,498.87 points, although it has been hovering in the middle of its trading range over the past five weeks.

The broader Topix index fell 0.16 percent to 1,994.57 points.

Investors were surprised by a jump in the yield on US Treasury bonds to the highest level in months above 4 percent in Tokyo trading, while US central officials consider whether raising interest rates for a longer period will be enough to curb inflation or will there be a need for more tightening in monetary policy.

But this also led to a decline in the yen, which fell by about 0.35 percent in its latest trading to 136.69 against the dollar.

Chip maker Tokyo Electron was the biggest loser on the Nikkei, down 1.56 percent.

On the other hand, Fast Retailing, which owns the Uniqlo chain of stores, rose 2.07 percent and was the most supportive of the Nikkei index.