1st LD Writethru: Tokyo stocks end lower on yen's rise after Fed meeting

TOKYO, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed lower Thursday as market sentiment was hurt by the yen's rise against the U.S. dollar after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates and maintained its forecast for further hikes through 2019.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average dropped 63.62 points, or 0.28 percent, from Wednesday to end the day at 22,694.45.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, shed 2.70 points, or 0.15 percent, to finish at 1,808.14.

Market strategists here said that the Fed leaving its interest rate policy outlook unchanged sparked concerns about low inflation in the United States. and sent the yen higher versus its U.S. counterpart.

They added that the latest U.S. core consumer price data released this week underscored concerns about slowing inflation in the world's largest economy.

The market was also dragged down by telecommunication-linked issues falling after e-commerce giant Rakuten indicated it will enter the mobile communications market.

Information and communication, bank and insurance-linked issues comprised those that declined the most by the close of play, and rising issues outpaced falling ones by 1,362 to 606, on the First Section, with 83 ending the day unchanged.

On the main section on Thursday, 1,666.82 million shares changed hands, dropping from Wednesday's volume of 1,900.54 million shares.

The turnover on the penultimate trading day of the week totaled 2,659.3 billion yen (23.58 billion U.S. dollars). Enditem