tokyo jan 11 reuters  japanese stocks fell on tuesday tracking wall streets weak finish overnight as investors were cautious that the us federal reserve could raise interest rates as soon as march while higher us treasury yields drove a selloff in technology shares the nikkei share average n225 fell 087 to 2823131 by midday close after falling as much as 137 the broader topix topx lost 072 to 198122 the japanese market was dragged down by wall streets weak finish for two consecutive sessions and investor sentiment was cautious regarding us monetary policy outlook shoichi arisawa general manager of the investment research department at iwaicosmo securities said us stocks fell overnight as bets that the fed could raise interest rates as soon as march led investors to pare risky assets and lifted the 10year treasury yield to a twoyear high it is hard to make active bets ahead of the cpi data to be released in the us arisawa added us december consumer inflation data is due to be released on wednesday with headline cpi seen coming in at a redhot 7 on a yearonyear basis boosting the case for an early increase in interest rates technology shares dragged the nikkei lower with chipmaking equipment maker tokyo electron 8035t losing 177 global technology startup investor softbank group 9984t falling 251 and sensor maker keyence 6861t down 634 nippon paint holdings tumbled 134 after the maker of coating materials said its shareholders planned to sell its shares in a public market as investors continued to shift their money to larger companies amid rising rates in the us highend japanese toaster maker balmuda inc 6612t which listed about two years ago fell 441 after suspending sales of mobile phones that it unveiled in november read more