Japanese markets closed virtually unchanged Wednesday, while the U.S. dollar is lower against the Japanese yen.

Tokyo's Nikkei index gained just a fraction of one percent to finish at 8,955.

In currency trading, the dollar was selling at 76.58 yen, a loss of less than two-tenths of a yen from Tuesday.

The Taipei market finished the day's trading at 7,741, a gain of nearly one and one-quarter percent .