TOKYO, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed lower on Friday as investors opted to lock in gains made following the market's winning streak and hit the sidelines ahead of U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's speech later in the day to wait for clues about the timing of the next rate hikes.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average lost 95.63 points, or 0.49 percent, from Thursday to close the day at 19,469.17.
The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, dropped 6.64 points, or 0.42 percent, to finish at 1,558.05.
Notable issues that closed in negative territory by the close of play comprised mining, oil and coal product, and construction-linked stocks.
Declining issues outpaced advancing ones by 1,256 to 617, on the First Section, and trading volume on the main section totaled 1,717.45 million shares, dropping from Thursday's volume of 2,210.38 million shares.
The day's turnover on the last trading day of the week came to 2,185 billion yen (19.15 billion U.S. dollars).
