Japan's Nikkei average rose 0.3 percent on Wednesday, led higher by defensive stocks such as drugmakers including Astellas Pharma <4503.T> after similar shares pushed U.S. stocks higher.

Nissan Motor Co <7201.T> was untraded due to a glut of buy orders after the Japanese automaker posted a narrower-than-expected fourth-quarter operating loss.

The benchmark Nikkei <.N225> added 30.67 points to 9,329.28.

It fell 1.6 percent the previous day, after rising more than 11 percent during five consecutive days of gains.

The broader Topix <.TOPX> gained 0.3 percent to 888.20.

(Reporting by Aiko Hayashi; Editing by Joseph Radford)

Nikkei 225 Japan