TOKYO, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday as Wall Street's retreat overnight set a negative tone with concerns about the outlook for the global economy also denting investor sentiment.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average dropped 344.97 points, or 1.61 percent, from Wednesday to close the day at 21,033.76.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, fell 26.64 points, or 1.66 percent, to finish at 1,582.85.

Shares in the U.S. slipping overnight saw trading get off to a lackluster start here, compounded by the yen's comparative strength versus the U.S. dollar, local traders said.

Concerns were rife among investors, they added, following European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi on Wednesday remarking that the bank could push back the unrolling of an already delayed interest rate hike amid concerns about growth in the eurozone.

Compounding woes about the outlook for the global economy, was a similar dovish move carried out by the U.S. Federal Reserve last week, which saw the central bank opt not to hike its interest rate this year.

Market strategists here have also also pointed to short-term concerns about ten-year Treasury yields in the U.S. dropping recently, with three-month bills and 10-year notes also inverting, which has seen investors reluctant to make bold moves.

An inverted yield curve is a known harbinger of a possible recession, technical analysts here said Thursday.

"Amid an unclear economic outlook in the United States and Europe, investor sentiment weakened," Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities Co., was quoted as saying.

Political uncertainty in Britain surrounding its supposed departure from the European Union, has also negatively affected sentiment here, market players said, as such uncertainty continues to unsettle markets and businesses confidence.

By the close of play, oil and coal product, marine transportation and securities house-linked issues comprised those that declined the most, and issues that fell outpaced those that rose by 1,878 to 229 on the First Section, with 31 ending the day unchanged.

On the main section on Thursday, 1,224.78 million shares changed hands dropping from Wednesday's volume of 1,311.28 million shares.

The turnover on the penultimate trading day of the week came to 2,269.6 billion U.S. dollars (20.57 billion U.S. dollars).