No real reason or news to prompt heavy buying or selling today, ahead of SQ this Friday and Q1 (U.S.) and Q4 (Japan) earnings season. The Nikkei 225 closed fractionally higher, 0.03% to 17,670.07. TOPIX gained 0.2% to 1,739.01. TOPIX 1st section decliners outnumbered advancers 934 x 639 (154 unchanged). JASDAQ’s slump continues as it lost 0.7% to 82.89, establishing new calendar year lows. There was a weaker-than-expected February machinery orders report, but it appears to have had limited impact. Watch Advantest (ATE) (JP: 6857), which lost 0.9% to ¥5,600. This may be one stock negatively hit by the Feb. machinery data. It is trading off recent lows, but don’t be surprised if it trades back towards ¥5,000. Separately, Nintendo (NTDOY.PK) (JP: 7974) set a new all-time high today, gaining 3.2% to ¥37,000.