Nikkei 225 ends 0.1% down despite paper sector gains

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average traded lower on Thursday as Chinese inflation rate unexpectedly rose 4.5% in January and investors awaited results from Greek debt swap talks. Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.14% or 12.34 points at 9,003.25 despite optimistic results from paper industry. Mitsub Paper rallied 10.5% and Nippon Paper gained 5.5% on improved earnings. Auto makers pared gains for the index as Nissan Motors declined 1% and Suzuki Motors dropped 0.8%.