Investors maintained caution ahead of key US inflation data due to be released on Wednesday which could hold the key to a likely interest rate increase by the Fed at its meeting on June 29-30.

Wall Street itself managed to ignore the threat of higher rates, putting on 72.82 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 10,563.33 points in a quiet day on Monday. Share prices in Tokyo slipped back 0.4 per cent as domestic institutional investors took profits in the absence of fresh leads, brokers said. The Nikkei average of 225 selected issues lost 71.82 points to finish at 17,210.18, reversing the previous day's 93.18-point gain. ``There were no negative factors inparticular. But the Nikkei average dipped toward the close in technical adjustment,'' said Yukio Takahashi, deputy chief of equity information at Wako Securities Co Ltd.