Relatively speaking, Japan looks the least uncertain market in regard to politics and the economy.

Even though fees are falling, the online brokers only offer stock trading and have almost nothing else - there are no research departments or outlets to support.

The 17,000 level isn't only the highest in more than five years, but it's also technical resistance. It won't be easy to break through (this level) and this created overall cautious sentiment.

I had expected a market correction of an almost 10 percent fall sometime between January and March.

A sudden jump in trading volume like this would catch off-guard any exchange (in industrialized countries). I'm sure they will fix it.

Technology shares here got a lift from strong gains in the Nasdaq index as many investors here regard this sector as having lagged last year.