Nikkei Retreats on Pause in Weak Yen Trend

Japanese stocks retreated on Thursday as a pause in the weakening of the yen gave investors an excuse to book profits, though financials extended their outperformance on rising U.S. yields.

The Nikkei share average fell 0.5 percent to 19,347.53 after scaling near six-week highs earlier this week.

The broader Topix dropped 0.2 percent to 1,551.07 and the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 shed 0.2 percent to 13,917.90.

(Reporting by Ayai Tomisawa; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)