Japan's Nikkei share average retreated from the previous session's five-month high on Monday, the last trading day in 2024, as investors locked in profits on a market set to be up a fifth for the year.
The Nikkei had fallen 0.75% to 39,979.68 by the midday break, after opening 0.11% higher. It ended at a five-month closing high on Friday after a three-session winning streak.
The index is up 19.5% so far this year, putting it just behind Pakistan and Taiwan for the year.
The broader Topix was down 0.42% to 2,789.98.
"Investors sold stocks today because they could not find clear reasons for the Nikkei to cross the 40,000 levels," said Fumio Matsumoto, chief strategist at Okasan Securities.
"But that does not mean investors are pessimistic about the market in the coming year. They may just want to avoid risks during the market close in Japan for the new year, which is longer than usual."
The Japanese markets will reopen on Jan. 6 after closing for the new year holidays from the next session.
Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest fell 3.83% to drag the Nikkei the most.
Nissan Motor slipped 5.64% to become the biggest percentage loser on the Nikkei. Nissan's shares surged nearly 40% this month as merger talks between the automaker and peer Honda Motor surfaced.
Makino Milling Machine's shares were untraded and were set to a daily limit of 10,750 yen after a surprise unsolicited takeover bid by Japanese manufacturing giant Nidec.
Takehiko Masuzawa, trading head at Phillip Securities Japan, said the Nikkei rose last week as investors bought back stocks to cover their short positions ahead of the long market holiday.
