TOKYO, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed lower Thursday on continued concerns over the Ukraine issue, with woes over rising interest rates also contributing to a circumspect mood.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average dropped 227.53 points, or 0.83 percent, from Wednesday to close the day at 27,232.87.
The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, fell 15.39 points, or 0.79 percent, to finish at 1,931.24.
Local brokers said Tokyo stocks retreated in the morning and expanded losses in the afternoon session.
"Recently, there have been various reports regarding the Ukraine situation, and market participants have been responding to them amid deep uncertainty," Norihiro Fujito, senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co., was quoted as saying.
In recent days, some Western media and politicians had claimed that Russia could "invade" Ukraine on Feb. 16. And yet Moscow has repeatedly rejected the accusation, stressing its right to mobilize troops within its borders to defend its territory as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) activities constitute a threat to Russia's border security.
Other market strategists added that risk appetite was also being dampened by the likelihood central banks will tighten their monetary policies amid rising prices.
"Amid rising prices globally, investors are wondering how much central banks would need to tighten their monetary policies and what the effect of that would be on the economy," Ikuo Mitsui, a fund manager at Aizawa Securities, said.
Service, warehousing and harbor transportation service, and information and communication issues comprised those that declined the most, with falling issues outpacing rising ones by 1,572 to 541 on the First Section, while 69 ended the day unchanged.
Heavily-weighted Nikkei component Fast Retailing, owner of the Uniqlo chain of casual clothing stores, weighed on the broader market, losing 1.1 percent after gaining the previous day.
Staffing agency Recruit Holdings was another notable drag, slumping 5.8 percent, while SoftBank Group also weighed, closing the day 2.3 percent lower.
Toyota Motor skidded down 1.5 percent, but on hopes the Omicron variant-driven COVID-19 pandemic might reach its peak here relatively soon, some transportation and department store operators found favor.
Tobu Railway added 2.0 percent, while Keisei Electric Railway rose 2.5 percent. West Japan Railway, for its part, gained 0.9 percent by the close.
Department store operator Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings, meanwhile, ended the day 1.1 percent higher.
On the main section on Thursday, 1,180.69 million shares changed hands, rising from Wednesday's volume of 1,155.78 million shares.
The turnover on the penultimate trading day of the week came to 2,920.08 billion yen (25.38 billion U.S. dollars). ■
