05:58 AM EDT, 06/23/2022 (MT Newswires) -- The Nikkei 225 opened evenly Thursday, see-sawed, but finished up 0.1% as traders bought into retail and transportation issues on prospects for recovery from COVID-19-related restrictions.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 21.70 to 26,171.25, although losing issues outnumbered gainers 116 to 106.

Leading the upside were insurer Tokio Marine (TKOMY, 8766:TK), beverage-house Sapporo (SOOBF, 2501;TK) and Nippon Sheet Glass (NPSGY, 5202:TK), all up by 2.6%.

On the downside were Sumitomo Metal Mining (SMMYY, 5713:TK), off 6%, and then drugmaker Shionogi (SGIOF, 4507:TK), down 5.6% after authorities delayed a decision on the drugmaker's oral COVID-19 treatment.

In other news, the seasonally adjusted headline au Jibun Bank Flash Japan Manufacturing PMI eased slightly to 52.7 in June from from 53.3 in May.

The Flash Services Business Activity Index for June posted at 54.2, up from 52.6 in May, and the Flash Manufacturing Output Index slipped a bit in June to 51.0, from 51.5 in May, reported S&P Global.

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