Japan’s Nikkei average fell 1.1 percent on Thursday, with exporters such as Sony Corp hit by profit-taking, while machinery makers lost ground after an unexpected fall in machine orders.

In a sign that the pace of recovery in capital spending could remain slow and weigh on growth, core private-sector machinery orders fell 5.4 percent in February, against a median market forecast for a 3.7 percent rise.

Market players said the Nikkei could fall toward around 11,000 to 10,800 in the near term after hitting 18-month highs earlier this week, but that it was too early to say if it had shifted toward a downtrend.

I think it’s taking a bit of a breather because the rise up to now had been pretty fast and the market had been rising almost day after day, said Kiyoshi Noda, chief fund manager for MU Investments.

It doesn’t seem like there has been a change in the broader uptrend, he said.

The benchmark Nikkei fell 1.1 percent or 124.63 points to 11,168.20, logging its biggest one-day percentage fall in about six weeks, and pulling away from an 18-month intraday high of 11,408.17 hit on Monday.

The broader Topix fell 1 percent to 985.99.

The Nikkei’s drop stalled near support at roughly 11,155, where the tenkan sen lies on daily Ichimoku charts.

The Nikkei’s RSI (relative strength index) slipped to 64, below the overbought level of 70 and above, after rising to 76 earlier this week.

MACD, another technical indicator, also turned somewhat more cautious, with charts showing the MACD line edging back down toward the signal line and getting closer to flashing a sell signal.

Some 2.1 billion shares were traded on the Tokyo exchange’s first section compared to Wednesday’s 2.4 billion, which was the highest in a month. Declining shares outnumbered advancing ones by more than 2 to 1.

Fuji Electric Holdings and other shares connected with smart electric power grids gained after the Nikkei business daily said a trial run of such systems involving some 5,000 households will begin this business year.

Fuji Electric, which in February said it was planning to set up a joint venture with General Electric to produce electric meters in Japan to tap into the potentially huge smart grid market, rose 4.6 percent to 293 yen, becoming one of the top gainers on the Nikkei 225.

MACHINERY MAKERS FALTER

After the market’s close, Japan’s largest retailer Seven & I Holdings said it was forecasting 6 percent growth in operating profit for the year started in March as it slashes costs and hopes for a recovery in consumer spending.

Seven & I shares fell 1.7 percent to 2,314 yen before the announcement.

Another company that released earnings after the market close was Fast Retailing, which reported 43 percent growth in first-half operating profit, helped by strong sales at its Uniqlo budget fashion chain, and raised the full-year outlook.

Fast Retailing rose 0.7 percent to 15,000 yen ahead of the announcement.

Among exporters, Canon fell 1.5 percent to 4,370 yen and Honda Motor slipped 1.8 percent to 3,265 yen and Sony shed 2.4 percent to 3,405 yen.

The yen held on to its gains after rising on Wednesday due to a retreat in risk appetite on renewed concerns about Greece after the debt-laden country’s borrowing costs hit a new high and its banks asked for support, and a drop in U.S. Treasury yields following strong demand at a 10-year auction.

Market players said expectations for earnings, widely predicted to come in strong, as well as increased interest in Japanese shares as marked by rising volume, may well keep the Nikkei supported for now.

Among machinery shares, industrial robot maker Fanuc Ltd lost 0.6 percent to 10,260 yen and machine tool maker Okuma Corp fell 2.9 percent to 717 yen. Amada Co, a maker of metal-processing machines, lost 2.3 percent to 777 yen.