The Nikkei closed lower on hawkish Fed outlook

Japan’s Nikkei index closed down more than 1 percent on Thursday, as heavyweight technology stocks tracked their American counterparts after the Federal Reserve showed a tendency to tighten monetary policy and expected to raise interest rates again by the end of the year.

The Nikkei index fell 1.37 percent to 32,571.03 points, its largest daily decline since August 25, with shares of chip testing equipment maker Advantest falling 2.65 percent.

Shares of Tokyo Electron, a manufacturer of chip-making equipment, fell 1.09 percent, and shares of SoftBank Group, a technology investor, fell 3.17 percent.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 and Nasdaq Composite indices fell after the Federal Reserve fixed interest rates as widely expected, and revised economic expectations upward while noting that the battle against inflation is not over yet.

The broader Topix index fell 0.94 percent to 2,383.41 points, and the largest national banks limited losses.

Of the 225 stocks listed on the Nikkei index, 54 stocks rose compared to 171 stocks.