Japan shares fall tad amid lingering economic woes

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average slipped 13.36 points, or 0.10 percent, to 12,851.69 after flitting in and out of positive territory. The broader Topix index lost 0.17 percent to 1,233.4.

Neither a tumble overnight on Wall Street--prompted by disappointing U.S. economic data--nor a major surge Wednesday by Chinese markets did much to move stock prices in Japan.

A murky outlook on the domestic front also held investors back. On Tuesday, the Bank of Japan left interest rates unchanged, describing the country's economic growth as "sluggish against the backdrop of high energy and materials prices and weaker growth in exports."

"Trading values have been declining, so there just aren't a whole lot of participants," said Takahiko Murai, equities general manager at Nozomi Securities in Tokyo.

He added, however, that a stable dollar was helping support the Nikkei amid steep falls in New York.

Among decliners were major exporters such as auto and tech issues. Sony Corp. shed 2.82 percent to 4,130 yen, Canon Inc. was down 1.95 percent to 5,040 yen, and Toyota Motor Corp. retreated 1.83 percent to 4,830 yen.

Financial and bank issues were also weak. Nomura Holdings Inc. fell 1.28 percent to 1,464 yen; Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. declined 1.03 percent to 675,000 yen.

A rebound in oil prices pushed up commodity-related issues, with major natural resource developer Inpex Holdings rising 2.53 percent to 1,134,000 yen and trading house Mitsubishi Corp. gaining 2.85 percent to 2,890 yen.

In currencies, the dollar bought 110.10 yen Wednesday afternoon, compared with 109.66 yen late Tuesday. The euro was trading at $1.4742, down from $1.4791.