Minutes from the Fed's Dec.18-19 meeting revealed that several policymakers were in favour of the U.S. central bank keeping rates steady this year. "The Fed's monetary policy is the biggest concern, and while there are some positive developments in trade talks, the market is still not fully convinced that U.S.-China trade disputes will end anytime soon," said Sumitomo Mitsui's Ueno. On Wednesday, delegations from China and the United States ended three days of trade talks in Beijing in the first face-to-face negotiations since both sides agreed a 90-day truce in a trade war that has disrupted the flow of hundreds of billions of dollars of goods. Hit by profit-taking, 26 of Topix's 33 subsectors were in the red. Large cap stocks languished, with Fanuc Corp dropping 2.4 percent, SoftBank Group Corp falling 3.2 percent and Kao Corp tumbling 4.1 percent.