TOKYO, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks ended lower on Friday, as selling was spurred after the Bank of Japan (BOJ) decided at its policy meeting to start selling assets that had built up over a decade of unorthodox easing.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock index, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average, ended down 257.62 points, or 0.57 percent, from Thursday to 45,045.81.
The broader Topix index, meanwhile, finished 11.19 points, or 0.35 percent, lower at 3,147.68.
The Japanese central bank decided at the end of its two-day board meeting on Friday to sell exchange-traded funds and Japan real estate investment trusts at an annual pace of about 330 billion yen (about 2.2 billion U.S. dollars) and 5 billion yen in book value, respectively, in an effort to step up its monetary normalization.
Selling was spurred by speculation that the market would be weighed down by increased stocks after the BOJ started selling ETFs, analysts said.
Exporter shares also drew selling on the stronger yen, which was bought on anticipation that the Japanese central bank may raise its benchmark interest rate soon since the BOJ has kept rates on hold for five straight meetings. ■
