TOKYO, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed sharply lower Thursday on ongoing concerns that the course of the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump could disrupt planned stimulus measures in the U.S.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average dropped 261.02 points, or 1.32 percent, from Wednesday to close the day at 19,553.86, marking its lowest closing level since May 2.
The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, lost 20.81 points, or 1.32 percent, to finish at 1,555.01.
Insurance, securities and bank-linked stocks comprised those that declined the most by the close of play, and declining issues outpaced advancing ones by 1,574 to 370 on the First Section.
Trading volume on the main section on Thursday came to 2,184.63 million shares, up from Wednesday's volume of 1,964.47 million shares.
The turnover on the penultimate trading day of the week totaled 2,719.8 billion yen (24.43 billion U.S. dollars).
