TOKYO, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average was flat on Thursday, helped by rises in defensive stocks such as drugmakers, but exporter shares shed gains made the day before after Wall Street stocks ended flat.
The benchmark Nikkei was almost unchanged at 9,810.62, after ending Wednesday up 0.2 percent.
The broader Topix inched up 0.2 percent to 851.61. (Reporting by Aiko Hayashi; Editing by Michael Watson)