Tokyo--Jan. 26--The Nikkei 225 Stock Average closed lower for the fourthstraight session, declining 0.8% after a 3.7% loss in the Nasdaq overnight.Index heavy weights such as electric machinery issues and optical networkingstocks were mostly lower in line with U.S. counterparts. Market players werewary of building fresh positions ahead of the Federal Open Market Committeemeeting next week. The Nikkei fell 107.32 points to 13,696.06. The Nikkei 225 Mar futures contract closed down 70 at 13,740 on theOsakaSecurities Exchange (OSE). Volume on the first section of the Tokyo StockExchange (TSE) totaled an estimated 598.5 million shares, up from anestimated 561.2 million shares on Thursday. The Tokyo Stock Price Index(TOPIX) fell 0.5%, or 5.95 points to 1294.44. Losers outnumbered gainers 781 to461 while 177 issues were unchanged on the First Section of the TSE. Players were wary from the open Friday after the Nasdaq fell sharply. TheNikkei 225 declined to the intraday low of 13,626.05 in the first 30 minutes oftrade. The downside was, however, limited on persistent short-covering andthe firm tone set by low- and mid-priced defensive issues. The index traded in atight 124.18-point range. "Major WDM (wave division multiplexing) relatedstocks were broadly hit in the wake of cautious comments from U.S. giantCorning on future growth and the sharp fall in JDS Uniphase," said KazueMayuzumi, deputy chief operating officer at Nikko Securities Co. Corning(GLW) skidded almost 20% to 56 1/4 even though the firm beat fourth-quarterestimates by 4 cents a share in reporting a fourth-quarter profit of 34 cents.Merrill Lynch cut its rating on the stock Thursday, saying the company madecautionary comments about two of its most profitable businesses. U.S. communications equipment parts maker JDS Uniphase ended down 12% to 55 3/16 ahead of its earnings report. Furukawa Electric Co., Japan's largest electric wire and cable company,tumbled 5.6% to 2265 yen in line with the plunge in JDS Uniphase. FurukawaElectric was sold by overseas brokerages including Lehman Brothers,Goldman Sachs and UBS Warburg. Another electric wire producer, SumitomoElectric Industries, shed 4.7% to 1677 yen while Fujikura Ltd. skid 2.0% to 849yen. Anritsu Corp. a leading communication equipment and measuringinstruments manufacturer tumbled 9.4% to 2845 yen. Electronics machinery and semiconductor manufacturers were also mostlylower including Kyocera Corp., Fujitsu Ltd., Hitachi Ltd., NEC Corp. andAdvantest Corp. But Toshiba Corp. Sony Corp. and Canon Inc. gained. FedChairman Alan Greenspan's said Thursday before the Senate BudgetCommittee that U.S. economic growth is "very close to zero" right now, that theeconomy has experienced a dramatic slowdown and that inflationary pressuresare "exceptionally well contained." Despite growing expectations over an aggressive interest rate next week,however, local market failed to get a boost from his comments. HarushigeKobayashi, strategist at Meiko National Securities Co. said "if the Fed cutsrates by 50 points basis, the move will likely give some support to U.S. equities. But investors are not optimistic over the U.S. outlook yet due to lingering concerns over a slowing economy and earnings." Meanwhile, mining, oil and coal, pharmaceutical industries gained ground. MAJOR MOVERS OF NIKKEI 225 INDEX The day's most heavily traded issue was chemical manufacturer Showa Denko KK, which ended up 7.6% at 199 yen. With downward pressure on the overall market, the share proved attractive with its low price and on expectations of steady profit growth, traders said. Tokyo Electron Ltd. came under pressure on the back of declines in U.S. counterparts overnight and on concerns over a slowdown in its chip making machine orders, traders said. The specialized electronics trading company said Thursday its semiconductor manufacturing machine orders shrank 6.9% to 145.5 billion yen during the third quarter in fiscal 2000 from a year earlier. Tokyo Electron said output was expected to be even lower in the fourth quarter. The issues tumbled 5.4% to 7680 yen. Canon Inc. was higher supported by a Nihon Keizai Shimbun report that the company is expected to post a record net profit of 180 billion yen in fiscal 2001. Canon added 2.3% to 4410 yen. Takeda Chemical Industries Ltd. climbed 4.8% to 6360 yen after the company announced the European Union's Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products recommended its apomorphine hydrochloride sublingual tablets for the treatment of erectile dysfunction for marketing in Europe.