TOKYO, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed lower Wednesday as an overnight fall on Wall Street set a lackluster tone early on, compounded by investors hitting the sidelines ahead of the conclusion of the U.S. Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average lost 32.12 points, or 0.16 percent, from Tuesday to end the day at 19,577.38.
The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, dropped 3.59 points, or 0.23 percent, to finish at 1,571.31.
Issues that notable lost ground by the close of play comprised oil and coal product, mining, and iron and steel-linked stocks and declining issues outpaced advancing ones by 1,461 to 420 on the First Section.
Trading volume on the main section on Wednesday totaled 1,650.20 million shares, down from Tuesday's volume of 1,758.24 million.
The day's total turnover came to 1,677 billion yen (14.61 billion U.S. dollars).
