TOKYO, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed slightly higher Wednesday after relinquishing the majority of early gains on buybacks after Wall Street recovered overnight, as jitters over recent volatility continued.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average edged up 35.13 points, or 0.16 percent, from Tuesday to close the day at 21,645.37.
The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, added 6.50 points higher, or 0.37 percent, to finish at 1,749.91.
Market strategists here said that shares drew heavy buying from the outset following Wall Street's recovery overnight from a record loss sending the benchmark Nikkei stock index plummeting to its lowest level since June 2016 on Tuesday.
Investor appetite returned in early trade here however, they added, as the market was long-overdue a correction.
The general perception, according to local brokers, was that despite inflationary concerns in the U.S., solid earnings from domestic firms coupled with the Bank of Japan signaling its commitment to continued easing, market volatility here would be assuaged.
Following an early flurry buybacks of shares deemed undervalued investors were more circumspect in later trade assuming more defensive positions to evaluate the future course of global and domestic equities and U.S. stock futures.
The yen edging higher against the U.S. dollar also doused sentiment here and exporter issues came under pressure, market players said.
Oil and coal product, machinery and pharmaceutical issues comprised those that gained the most by the close of play, and rising issues beat declining ones by 1,165 to 821 on the First Section, while 79 ended the day unchanged.
On the main section on Wednesday, 2,336.29 million shares changed hands, dropping from Tuesday's volume of 3,155.71 million shares.
The turnover on the third trading day of the week came to 4,526.0 billion yen (41.41 billion U.S. dollars).
