Nikkei slightly up on Wednesday

Wednesday's trading saw slight gains for the Nikkei index, which edged back towards a new five-year high today (March 27th).

It closed 0.2 per cent higher at 12,493.79 after a tempestuous session in the market and now stands at 1.2 per cent below a four-and-a-half year high of 12,650.26 struck last Thursday.

Traders said the effect of shares going "ex-dividend" had an impact on the state of the impact over the course of the day, with Toru Ibayashi, head of wealth management research of UBS Securities Japan, telling Reuters that the Nikkei is "solid".

He noted how this is "especially when taking into account ex-dividend price declines", adding: "Foreign and retail investors are active."

Today's growth for the Nikkei comes after the index slipped earlier in the week due to the worries investors continue to have over the bailout for Cyprus.

Many took their profits out of the market, which saw the index drop by 0.5 per cent on Tuesday.

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