tokyo feb 15 reuters  japans nikkei share average ended the session on tuesday at its lowest level this month weighed down by worries over aggressive us rate hikes and as investors contemplated the implications of a potential russian invasion of ukraine the nikkei n225 slumped 079 to end at 2686519 its lowest close since jan 28 and below the psychologically significant 27000 mark as an index it feels like we must be near the bottom a market participant at a domestic securities firm said referring to the nikkei however anticipation of rising us interest rates makes it a difficult time to delve into the market following disappointing earnings construction machine maker kubota tanked 1262 to be the nikkeis biggest percentage decliner while staffing services company recruit 6098t suffered a 1246 plunge and was the biggest drag by index points by a wide margin keeping traders on toes the united states warned that russia could soon invade ukraine the news on invasion pushed up energy prices ramping up the risk of market volatility at the same time investors are fretting about the potential for the federal reserve to hike interest rates by half a percentage point next month read more other notable decliners included chipmaking giant tokyo electron 8035t which sank 240 and startup investor softbank group 9984t which lost 209 financials were the nikkeis worst performing sector dropping 244 as a pullback in global longterm bond yields cut the profit outlook the broader topix topx slid 083 a decline of 096 in the value share index topxv outpaced a 068 drop for growth shares topxg at the other end logistics company nippon express holdings jumped 801 following a positive earnings report making it the nikkeis biggest percentage riser uniqlo store operator fast retailing 9983t was the biggest gainer by index points registering a 104 advance