"The level of new home sales was still low, so we cannot completely be optimistic about the U.S. economic outlook," added another Tokyo-based analyst.

Analysts also said the strength of the Japanese currency against the U.S. dollar, coupled with the fact that Japanese earnings season has yet to swing into top gear caused some investors to take a wait-and-see approach and not chase higher assets like stocks.

"Strong earnings are positive for the market, but sentiment may worsen if the yen's appreciation causes companies to make conservative earnings forecasts," said one local asset manager.

The yen hit 86.83 against the dollar during trading hours on Tuesday and 87.47 against the euro. Investors fret when the yen is strong as profits made overseas are eroded when repatriated.

Subsequently, some export-related issues retreated with Canon shedding 0.4 percent to 3,515 yen and Kyocera Corp. dropping 0.7 percent to 7,410 yen.

Toyota Motor Corp. lost 1.6 percent to 3,040 yen and Nintendo Co., the world's biggest maker of portable video-game players, sank 1.2 percent to 24,330 yen.

Fanuc Ltd., an industrial-robot maker that earns 80 percent of its revenue outside Japan, lost 0.9 percent to 10,400 yen.
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