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| - Tokyo stocks closed flat on Thursday in cautious trade as late profit-taking erased early gains. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index inched up by just 0.34 points to 28,875.23, but the broader Topix index edged down 0.10 percent, or 2.04 points, to 1,947.10. Japanese shares had gained ground by noon following a mixed close on Wall Street, but the key indicators had a mixed close. "Investors locked in profits in the afternoon after they were discouraged by no fresh trading factors," said Shinichi Yamamoto, a broker at Okasan Securities. Investors also remained cautious following volatile trading earlier this week, brokers said. The market has largely welcomed this week's decision to allow spectators at Tokyo Olympics events, Yamamoto added. "If the Olympics can be held, it's positive news for the market but they are still surrounded by a lot of uncertainties." The dollar fetched 110.84 yen in Asian afternoon trade, against 110.95 yen in New York late Wednesday. In Tokyo, high-tech shares were among losers. Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest lost 1.86 percent to 10,000 yen with industrial robot maker Fanuc down 0.65 percent at 26,440 yen. Eisai rallied 1.49 percent to 12,250 yen after the Japanese pharmaceutical firm and its US partner Biogen said that their Alzheimer's drug Lecanemab has received a breakthrough therapy designation from the US Food and Drug Administration. Lecanemab is the second drug the companies are working on to treat Alzheimer's patients. The first was approved by the FDA earlier this month. Panasonic rose 0.64 percent to 1,247.5 yen after it announced the signing of a brand ambassador agreement with Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka. Toshiba edged up 0.10 percent to 4,845 yen ahead of its shareholders' meeting on Friday. The firm has apologised following a probe into its alleged attempts to influence a shareholder vote. si/sah/qan
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