TOKYO, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks ended the day marginally lower Tuesday as investors hit the sidelines ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting starting later in the day.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average shed 20.47 points, or 0.10 percent, from Monday to end the day at at 19,955.20, marking its lowest closing level since July 7.
The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, lost 4.50 points, or 0.28 percent, to finish at 1,617.07.
Pulp and paper, air transportation and chemical-linked issues comprised those that declined the most by the close of play.
At the closing bell, issues that retreated outpaced those that advanced by 1,297 to 593 on the First Section.
Brokers here said that stocks moved in a narrow range throughout the day as investors opted to square away positions ahead of the Fed's two-day policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee meeting starting later in the day.
Other traders here also said that an initially soft yen gave exporters an early boost, but investors were reluctant to chase the market higher ahead of a slew of domestic corporate earnings reports for the April-June period being released tomorrow.
On the main section on Tuesday a total of 1,497.56 million shares changed hands, dropping from Monday's volume of 1,561.43 million shares.
The turnover on the second trading day of the week came to 1,886.5 billion yen (17.00 billion U.S. dollars).
