Summary The market was also propped up by a Greek reform package critical to extending its bailout.
TOKYO (AFP) - Tokyo stocks lost early gains to finish 0.10 percent lower on Wednesday, as investors locked in profits after a five-day winning streak.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange, which on Tuesday closed at a fresh 15-year high, slipped 18.28 points to 18,585.20, while the Topix index of all first-section shares was flat, edging down 0.04 percent, or 0.66 points, to 1,507.62.
Tokyo rose at the open, backed by Wall Street s record-setting gains on news that the US Federal Reserve likely will not hike interest rates until at least June, as well as positive signals on Greece.
"We re getting a sense of security from expectations of a delay in US rate hikes," said Hiroichi Nishi, an equity manager at SMBC Nikko Securities.
But "the market looks overbought in the short-term and so we ll be seeing some profit taking," he told Bloomberg News.
The Dow and S&P 500 Tuesday bolted to fresh records after Fed chair Janet Yellen pledged a cautious approach to raising interest rates.
"A high degree of policy accommodation remains appropriate," Yellen told the Senate Banking Committee, as she noted that inflation was still falling and the labour market had yet to recover fully.
The Fed s policy board still "considers it unlikely" that it will need to hike the federal funds rate "for at least the next couple of meetings", she said.
The market was also propped up by a Greek reform package critical to extending its bailout.
Despite reservations expressed by the International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank, eurozone ministers signed off on the plan, which gives Athens a four-month lifeline to pay its bills and sidestep an almost certain exit from the eurozone.
In Tokyo share trading, SoftBank climbed 2.95 percent to 7,315.0 yen, while Sony rose 0.12 percent to 3,280.0 yen.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) gained 0.13 percent to 660.5 yen.
The rise came after the Nikkei business daily reported that MHI will likely secure a deal to supply offshore wind turbines for a major wind farm expansion in Britain, with the order potentially reaching 50 billion yen ($416 million).
In foreign exchange trading, the dollar slipped to 118.71 yen from 118.94 yen in New York on Tuesday.
