Japanese shares inch lower on Wall Street weakness

TOKYO, May 25 (Reuters) - Japanese shares edged lower on Wednesday after two major U.S. stock indexes fell overnight, but the decline was limited as some investors scooped up beaten-down equities.

The Nikkei share average had eased 0.2% to 26,705.96 by 0220 GMT, while the broader Topix was 0.04% lower at 1,877.49.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq finished in the red overnight as worries that aggressive moves to curb decades-high inflation might tip the U.S. economy into recession soured risk appetite.

"We have not seen any market-moving cues and investors were cautious in making bets ahead of the next FOMC (the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee) meeting," said Shuji Hosoi, a senior strategist at Daiwa Securities.

"There has not been any sign that would ease concerns about economic slowdown, however domestic equities have fallen to a level where investors could buy them cheap."

The Nikkei, which has had a rollercoaster ride in the past year, is forecast to climb more than 7% to 29,000 by end-2022, a level last seen at the start of January, according to analysts in a Reuters poll.

Staffing agency Recruit Holdings fell 4.41% and was the biggest drag on the Nikkei, while technology investor SoftBank Group slipped 1.12%.

Game maker Nintendo fell 2.85%.

Lens maker Hoya gained 3.48% and was the top gainer among the top 30 core Topix names, followed by drug Daiichi Sankyo, which climbed 4.88%.

There were 93 advancers on the Nikkei index against 125 decliners.

The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's main board was 0.57 billion, compared with the average 1.26 billion in the past 30 days. (Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)