Summary The Topix index of all first-section shares was off 0.12 percent, or 1.60 points, at 1,378.35
TOKYO (AFP) - Tokyo stocks edged down Tuesday morning, after three straight winning sessions, as investors awaited the outcome of the Bank of Japan s first policy meeting since it shocked markets with negative interest rates.
Investors refrained from making major moves ahead of a US Federal Reserve two-day policy meeting, which kicks off later in the day.
All eyes are on the Japanese central bank, as some traders are speculating it might expand its monetary easing programme by delving deeper into negative interest rates.
The BoJ shocked markets with its unprecedented move to negative rates at its last gathering in January -- widely panned as a desperate attempt to prop up Japan s faltering economic growth plans.
Still, for the time being Governor Haruhiko Kuroda and his policy board are widely expected to hold off from fresh monetary stimulus in order to fully assess the impact of the negative rate move, analysts said.
"Fundamentally, investors are trying to see where US and Japanese monetary policy will be going," Toshihiko Matsuno, chief strategist at SMBC Friend Securities, told Bloomberg News.
"Most think that the Bank of Japan won t make a move, but they might," Matsuno said."The Japanese economy s worsening, so the possibility that they ll do something isn t zero."
Tokyo shared prices stayed within a narrow range, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 index losing 7.46 points to 17,226.29 by the lunch break.
The Topix index of all first-section shares was off 0.12 percent, or 1.60 points, at 1,378.35.
As for the Fed, investors and analysts are in general not expecting its gathering to produce an interest rate hike -- but it could offer fresh cues as to the outlook for higher rates.
US equity markets ended a lacklustre session nearly flat on Monday as a retreat in oil prices hurt petroleum-linked stocks.
On Wall Street, the Dow closed 0.1 percent higher and the Nasdaq was nearly flat, adding less than 0.1 percent. But the S&P 500 shed 0.1 percent.
On currency markets, the dollar fell against the yen, changing hands at 113.64 yen, against 113.78 yen in US trading.
Among major shares, casual fashion chain operator Fast Retailing rose 1.02 percent to 36,760 yen. Mobile carrier SoftBank rose 1.13 percent to 5,972.
Sony was flat at 2,798 yen after it announced a $750 million deal to take full control of Sony ATV Music Publishing by buying the 50-percent share owned by the estate of late pop superstar Michael Jackson.
