By Stanley White
TOKYO, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks fell on Thursday,
dragged lower by major exporters after the U.S. Federal
Reserve's dovish tone pushed the yen to a seven-week high
against the dollar.
The Nikkei 225 Index .N225 fell 0.68% to 23,316.75 by 0159
GMT, with consumer discretionary and industrial sectors leading
the decline. The broader Topix .TOPX fell 0.47% to 1,636.65.
The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday vowed to keep interest
rates near zero until inflation is on track to overshoot the
U.S. central bank's 2% price target, pushing the yen JPY=EBS
to 104.80 per dollar, the strongest since July 31. The auto sector, which is a major exporter, fell due to the
yen's strength. Honda Motor 7267.T declined by 1.03%, Isuzu
Motors Ltd 7202.T lost 3.71%, and Nissan Motor Co 7201.T
fell 1.85%.
Investors now eye the Bank of Japan's policy meeting
outcome. While the BOJ is not expected to change its
quantitative easing, participants will watch how the central
bank will cooperate with new Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
Among the top 30 core Topix names, convenience store Seven &
i Holdings Co Ltd 3382.T and electronics maker Keyence Corp
6861.T gained 0.75% and 0.42%, respectively.
East Japan Railway Co 9020.T , down 3.77%, and Central
Japan Railway Co 9022.T , which shed 3.08%, were among the top
underperformers.
There were 82 advancers on the Nikkei index against 141
decliners.
The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's
main board .TOPX was 0.46 billion, compared with the average
of 1.13 billion in the past 30 days.
(Editing by Uttaresh.V)