"The content of the minutes was no surprise but the US stocks' negative reaction to it dragged the Tokyo market down," said Toshihiko Matsuno at the investor investment division of SMBC Nikko Securities. "US stocks swings indicate it may take some more time for investor sentiment to calm down" from volatility earlier in February, he told AFP. The dollar was trading at 107.60 yen against 107.74 yen in New York on Wednesday. In individual stock trade, Honda fell 1.89 percent to 3,774 yen and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial dropped 1.01 percent to 761.3 yen. NTT climbed 1.66 percent to 4,833 yen after the telecom carrier announced a share buyback.

Source: The Nation Bangkok February 22, 2018 00:56 UTC