1st LD Writethru: Tokyo stocks close lower amid caution ahead of Fed's meeting

TOKYO, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed lower Wednesday as investors remained circumspect ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting's conclusion later in the day.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average dropped 108.10 points, or 0.47 percent, from Tuesday to close the day at 22,758.07.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, lost 4.24 points, or 0.23 percent, to finish at 1,810.84.

Brokers here said that investors were eyeing the outcome of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting with expectations high that the U.S. central bank will raise its interest rate, although it may slow the pace of interest hikes expected in 2018.

Strategists here also said the market was pressured by media in the U.S. reporting that Democrat Doug Jones won the Alabama Senate election against Republican Roy Moore, which could hamper U.S. President Donald Trump's tax reform push.

Rubber product, machinery and electric appliance-linked issues comprised those that declined the most by the close of play, and falling issues beat rising ones by 1,167 to 790, on the First Section, with 91 ending the day unchanged.

On the main section on Wednesday, 1,900.54 million shares changed hands, rising from Tuesday's volume of 1,600.62 million shares.

The turnover on the third trading day of the week came to 2,877.2 billion yen (25.37 billion U.S. dollars). Enditem