TOKYO, Feb 17 ― Tokyo stocks closed lower today on profit-taking, taking a pause after recent rallies.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 0.58 per cent, or 175.56 points, to 30,292.19, while the broader Topix index slipped 0.18 per cent, or 3.59 points, to 1,961.49.

"It is natural to see profit-taking after the Nikkei rose so fast in the past few weeks,” said Shinichi Yamamoto, a broker at Okasan Securities in Tokyo.

Some dealers said the market was overheating, "but sentiment is not weak at all,” Yamamoto told AFP.

"Although investors tend to lock in profits at this level, the market is expected to remain bullish for now,” he said.

The dollar fetched ¥105.85 (RM4.03) in Asian afternoon trade, against ¥105.99 in New York late yesterday.

Toyota fell 0.67 per cent to ¥8,247 after announcing plans to suspend 14 lines at nine of its 15 automobile assembly plants in Japan for up to four days as parts procurement has been affected by an earthquake that hit the northeastern part of the country on Saturday.

Procurement has also been affected by cold weather across parts of the United States.

Among Toyota's rivals, Honda was up 0.88 per cent at ¥3,088 and Nissan jumped 2.55 per cent to ¥617.9.

Bridgestone lost 4.13 per cent to ¥4,271 after announcing an annual net loss.

Sony fell 0.32 per cent to ¥12,200 and SoftBank Group lost 0.14 per cent to ¥10,405, both on profit-taking, but Nintendo gained 0.39 per cent to ¥68,610.

Japan logged a trade deficit of ¥323.9 billion in January, according to finance ministry data released shortly before the opening bell.

The figure ― compared with market expectations of a 625 billion yen deficit ― did not prompt a strong reaction in the market. ― AFP