Mumbai, Dec. 24 -- The Japanese market's Nikkei 225 ended down by 54.87 points or 0.11% at 50,358.00, failing to hold early gains.

Possibility of more rate hikes by the Japanese central bank weighed on stocks.

The minutes of the Bank of Japan's October meeting showed policymakers debated the need to continue raising interest rates to levels deemed neutral to the economy with some arguing doing so would help achieve long-term, stable growth.

Dainippon Screen Manufacturing soared 10%. Sumitomo Metals surged more than 7%, while Dowa Holdings, Sapporo Holdings and Mitsubishi Materials gained 3.5 to 4%.

Panasonic, Advantes Corp., Furukawa Electricals, Resona Holdings and Ebara Corp. were among the other prominent gainers.

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