The Nikkei average climbed past the key 44,000 mark for the first time before surrendering early gains to settle 0.42 percent lower at 43,459.29. The broader Topix index ended down 0.51 percent at 3,122.12.
Tech stocks followed their U.S. peers higher, with chip-testing equipment maker and Nvidia supplier Advantest surging 6.5 percent and Tokyo Electron rising over 2 percent.
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