Japan's Nikkei hits 2-wk high ahead of U.S. CPI data, Fed meet
TOKYO, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average rose on Tuesday to briefly top the key 28,000 level for the second time this month, as investors readied for U.S. inflation data and the Federal Reserve's policy decision.
The Nikkei ended the day up 0.4% at 27,954.85, after hitting a high of 28,116.56, a level not seen since Dec. 1, but then gradually pared those gains during the morning session and traded mostly sideways in the afternoon.
The broader Topix rose 0.43% to 1,965.68.
"Investors don't seem to want to aggressively buy Japanese shares" ahead of such key events, leaving the Nikkei "stuck" around 28,000, said Masayuki Kubota, chief strategist at Rakuten Securities.
The U.S. consumer price report later in the day will be closely monitored as recent data has suggested that inflation has been sticky, reducing optimism that the Fed may soon pivot following a series of aggressive interest rate increases.
The U.S. central bank is widely expected to raise interest rate by 50 basis points (bps) on Wednesday, down from the 75 bps hikes in its last four meetings.
Of the Nikkei's 225 component stocks, 143 rallied while 71 fell, and 11 were flat.
Uniqlo store operator Fast Retailing gained 1.53%, adding about 44 index points to the Nikkei and making it the benchmark's biggest support.
An overnight weakening of the yen buoyed exporters, as it lifts the outlook for repatriated earnings.
Honda rose 1.2% and Toyota gained 0.28%. Sony jumped 1.06%.
The biggest percentage gainer was construction company JGC Holdings, which surged 3.24%. (Reporting by Tokyo markets team; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Vinay Dwivedi)
