tokyo dec 15 reuters  japans nikkei inched down ahead of a crucial policy decision by the us federal reserve on wednesday with declines in shipping stocks outweighing gains in carmaker toyota 7203t and its group companies the broad topix index topx however posted a 037 gain at the midday break with eight shares advancing for every five that sank the nikkei share average n225 slipped 008 giving up earlier gains investors expect the us federal open market committee fomc to adopt a more hawkish tone at the conclusion of their twoday meeting quickening the pace at which they taper bondbuying stimulus and potentially setting up earlier interest rate hikes read more position adjustments before the fomc are center stage and its not possible to discern a direction to the market amid that said hajime sakai the chief fund manager at mito securities co in tokyo toyota 7203t was the secondbest performer among the 30 core topix names notching a 269 gain after japans biggest automaker said on tuesday it would commit about 70 billion to electrify its lineup by 2030 read more that also lifted its group companies with toyota tsusho 8015t and denso 6902t jumping 420 and 431 respectively transport equipment iteqpt was the topixs best performing sector adding 199 among other notable gainers recruit holdings 6098t and softbank group 9984t rose 297 and 214 respectively as they rebounded following recent slides sony 6758t advanced 193 at the other end sea transports ishipt 397 tumble made it the worstperforming topix sector by a wide margin