TOKYO, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed lower Thursday as a positive lead from Wall Street set a solid tone coupled with a comparatively weak yen against the U.S. dollar, selling by investors to secure gains following the market's recent run of gains became prevalent.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average lost 58.38 points, or 0.29 percent, from Wednesday to close the day at 19,807.44.
The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, dropped 5.20 points, or 0.32 percent, to finish at 1,632.13.
Nonferrous metal, air transportation and precision instrument-linked issues comprised those that declined the most by the close of play, and falling issues beat rising ones by 1,231 to 683 on the First Section.
Brokers here said that in a day of choppy trade investors predominantly opted to secure recent gains on the back of the market's recent winning streak and square away positions ahead of a three-day weekend approaching.
A rise in U.S. shares and a weak yen supporting key exporter issues helped trim losses, traders said, while a rise in oil prices helped lift energy related issues and cap the overall deficit, they added.
On the main section on Thursday, 1,662.50 million shares changed hands, rising from Wednesday's volume of 1,605.11 million shares.
The turnover on the penultimate trading day of the week came to 2,250.1 billion yen (20.36 billion yen).
