TOKYO, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed lower Tuesday as investors believe the U.S. Federal reserve may aggressively hike its rates next month leading other central banks to possibly follow suit, while ongoing concerns over tension on the Ukrainian border continued to trigger fears for the global economy.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average dropped 214.40 points, or 0.79 percent, from Monday to close the day at 26,865.19.
The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, lost 15.95 points, or 0.83 percent, to finish at 1,914.70.
Local brokers said the market consensus was that the Fed will likely hike its rate by half a percentage point next month, with other central banks possibly following suit.
But the major concerns Tuesday were growing tensions on the Russia-Ukraine border with fears rife that should tensions spillover, energy prices would likely skyrocket as supply could be greatly restricted, they added.
"Companies are worried that the recent surge in crude oil prices spurred by rising tensions may squeeze corporate profits and override the benefits of the recent weaker yen for exporters," Koichi Fujishiro, a senior economist at the Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, was quoted as saying.
The downbeat mood was enough to keep stocks pegged in negative territory for most of the day, dealers here said, with losses widening in the afternoon as U.S. stock futures lost ground.
Data released before markets here opened showing that Japan's economy grew an annualized real 5.4 percent in the October-December period following a contraction in the previous quarter, was largely shrugged off by investors, brokers here said.
By the close of play service, insurance and mining issues comprised those that declined the most, while issues that fell outpaced those that rose by 1,223 to 872 on the First Section, while 87 ended the day unchanged.
Heavyweights dragged the broader market lower with SoftBank Group dropping 2.1 percent, while Tokyo Electron fell 2.4 percent by the close.
Rakuten Group added to overall losses, slipping 0.4 percent, after reporting Monday a record net loss for 2021.
Toyota Motor, meanwhile, skidded down 1.3 percent, after announcing Monday it would shutter operations at two domestic plants due to chip shortages.
Stocks finding favor, however, included Nippon Express Holdings, which soared 8 percent, after announcing an upbeat earnings report and advertising agency Dentsu climbed 7.3 percent on favorable figures.
Uniqlo store operator Fast Retailing helped trim losses, meanwhile, by gaining 1 percent by the close.
On the main section on Tuesday, 1,343.90 million shares changed hands, dropping from Monday's volume of 1,379.81 million shares.
The turnover on the second trading day of the week came to 3,058.97 billion yen (26.46 billion U.S. dollars). ■