1st LD Writethru: Nikkei ends flat on trade, currency concerns ahead of Japan-U.S. summit

TOKYO, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks ended mixed Tuesday, with the benchmark Nikkei stock index narrowly creeping into positive territory as investors took a cautious breather ahead of a two-day summit between Japan and the United States starting later Tuesday.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average edged up 12.06 points, or 0.06 percent, from Monday to close the day at 21,847.59.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, shed 6.24 points, or 0.36 percent, to finish at 1,729.98.

Despite a positive lead from Wall Street overnight, investors were cautious throughout the day in rangebound trading and took a wait-and-see approach ahead of a key two-day summit between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump later in the day.

Market strategists here said there was some investor consternation related to trade issues between Japan and the United States, with concerns Washington may try to redress Japan's trade surplus with the United States and take issues with monetary policy here aimed at keeping the yen weak against its counterparts.

If such issues are addressed during the summit, they added, the yen could spike against the U.S. dollar and dent exporters here reliant on a weaker yen to boost profits when repatriated and increase competitiveness in overseas markets.

Other analysts pointed out that the market mood was also risk averse owing to recent cronyism scandals implicating Abe, his wife and senior ministers, which have led to slumping public support rates for his Cabinet and concerns for the future course of his administration.

Losses were trimmed however by buying based on U.S. shares advancing overnight and institutional investors beginning fiscal operations for their new year, local equities managers said.

Food and retail issues comprised notable advancers, while securities and machinery issues were among those that declined the most by the close of play, and retreating issues outpaced advancing ones by 1,497 to 517 on the First Section, with 68 ending the day unchanged.

On the main section on Tuesday, 1,353.46 million shares changed hands, rising from Monday's volume of 1,310.43 million shares.

The turnover on the second trading day of the week came to 2,124.6 billion yen (19.87 billion U.S. dollars). Enditem