Nintendo rallies on Switch hopes

Tokyo shares ended little changed Wednesday after hitting a more than two-year high, but Nintendo surged on hopes for strong sales of its Switch games console. The Super Mario maker jumped 4.73 percent to 42,890 yen, adding to a more than seven percent gain Tuesday, after Credit Suisse boosted its outlook on the gaming device and as the industry gears up for this week's Tokyo Game Show.

"Nintendo surged on hopes that the company will unveil new game titles for Switch" at the show, Okasan Online Securities said in a commentary. Investors were also keeping an eye on US and Japanese central bank meetings, after Tuesday's rally saw the benchmark index jump nearly two percent to close at its highest level in more than two years.

"The market paused after feeling a sense of accomplishment yesterday," said Toshikazu Horiuchi, a broker at IwaiCosmo Securities. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 ended Wednesday up 0.05 percent, or 11.08 points, at 20,310.46, while the broader Topix index was flat, inching up 0.04 points to 1,667.92. "Overall, investors took a wait-and-see stance with a FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) decision on the way," Okasan said, referring to the US central bank's policy-setting group.

Geopolitical factors were also in focus after President Donald Trump escalated his rhetoric on North Korea, threatening to "totally destroy" the country if it does not back down on its nuclear ambitions. Among major Tokyo-listed shares, Panasonic added 0.81 percent to end the day at 1,665 yen and Toyota slipped 0.39 percent to 6,703 yen.

-AFP, Tokyo