1st LD Writethru: Tokyo stocks close lower as firm yen weighs on exporter issues

TOKYO, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed lower Thursday as a comparatively firm yen against the U.S. dollar dented exporter issues amid concern the Bank of Japan (BOJ) may taper its monetary stimulus program.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average lost 77.77 points, or 0.33 percent, from Wednesday to end the day at 23,710.43.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, lost 4.02 points, or 0.21 percent, to close at 1,888.09.

Technical analysts here said that buying from overseas investors was notably lower owing to the yen's firm tone against the U.S. dollar.

Exporters, in particular, rely on a weak yen to lift profit outlooks and yields when repatriated. A weaker yen versus other major currencies also boosts exporters' competitiveness in overseas markets.

Market strategists also said that investors were concerned Thursday about speculation the BOJ might begin to taper its quantitative easing measures.

On Tuesday, the central bank in its market operation reduced its purchases of long-term government bonds.

This triggered speculation the BOJ might be considering tapering its easing measures, as has been the case with other major central banks, although there were no further reductions in the bank's bond buying on Thursday, analysts noted.

By the close of play, food, transportation equipment and precision instrument-linked issues comprised those that declined the most, and falling issues beat rising ones by 986 to 976 on the First Section, with 101 ending the day unchanged.

On the main section on Thursday, 1,582.83 million shares changed hands, dropping from Wednesday's volume of 1,592.60 million shares.

The turnover on the penultimate trading day of the week came to 2,802.1 billion yen (25.07 billion U.S. dollars). Enditem