TOKYO, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Nikkei stock average closed lower Thursday as sentiment was dented by weak earnings from U.S. tech giants, while some investors hit the sidelines ahead of the outcome of two central banks' policy-setting meetings.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average lost 86.60 points, or 0.32 percent, from Wednesday to close the day at 27,345.24.
The broader Topix index, meanwhile, dropped 12.65 points, or 0.66 percent, to finish at 1,905.56.
Dealers here said the Bank of Canada's lower-than-expected interest rate hike amid recession fears underscored hopes the U.S. Federal Reserve will slow the pace of its hikes from December to mitigate a likely slowdown in the world's largest economy.
"The Bank of Canada clearly stated that the country's economy is facing a risk of recession and has shifted course in its policy stance," Norihiro Fujito, senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co., was quoted as saying.
"The Canadian central bank's move provided support to the view amongst market actors that the Fed will opt for smaller hikes from December," said Fujito.
Market analysts here added that investors were now keenly eyeing the outcome of the European Central Bank's policy-setting meeting later Thursday and the Bank of Japan's two-day meeting ending Friday.
They said Japan's central bank will likely stay pat on its ultra-easy monetary policy, in order to purportedly prop up the economy, in contrast to central banks in other major economies committing to monetary tightening to combat inflation.
Adding to a circumspect mood Thursday, U.S. tech giants Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc. reporting downbeat earnings hurt the technology sector here and sparked concern over upcoming earnings from Japanese tech heavyweights, including Advantest Corp. later in the day.
By the close of play, bank, textile and apparel, and marine transportation issues comprised those that declined the most.
Canon Inc. was the Nikkei's biggest drag, tumbling 6.2 percent, after downwardly revising its profit outlook for the business year ending in December.
Canon saying that it expects demand for printers to drop as fewer people are working from home sent Seiko Epson Corp.'s shares lower, with the printer maker dropping 4.8 percent.
Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. Ltd. was a notable winner, however, climbing 4.7 percent after upwardly revising its operating profit outlook.
On the Prime Market on Thursday, 1,078.64 million shares changed hands, rising from Wednesday's volume of 1,044.71 million shares.
Issues that fell outpaced those that rose by 1,273 to 484, while 80 ended the day unchanged.
The turnover on the penultimate trading day of the week came to 2,689.41 billion yen (18.44 billion U.S. dollars). ■