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By Kevin Buckland
TOKYO, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks trimmed early steep losses after the Bank of Japan kept stimulus unchanged on Friday and signalled it was in no rush to tighten policy.
The Nikkei share average ended the day down 0.52% at 32,402.41, after dipping to a nearly four-week low of 32,154.53 earlier as it tracked sharp declines on Wall Street amid worries about a more hawkish Federal Reserve.
The broader Topix pared losses as steep as 1.2% to finish the day down 0.3%.
The BOJ's announcement came while equity markets were in the midday recess.
Japanese stocks drew additional support from a weakening yen , which extended its slide against the dollar after the BOJ decision, heading back towards a 10-month trough.
"The arithmetic is quite simple: Any export-sensitive market likes a weaker currency," said Kyle Rodda, senior financial market analyst at Capital.com.
"Relatively loose Japanese policy and a weaker yen is a boon for Japan's equities."
In a statement accompanying Friday's decision, the BOJ repeated a pledge to keep ultra-loose monetary policy "as long as necessary to maintain the (2% inflation) target in a stable manner."
Friday's announcement was closely watched after BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda hinted in a newspaper interview earlier this month that an end to negative interest rates could come as early as this year.
Ueda's news conference is scheduled for half an hour after the stock market close, at 0630 GMT.
Price pressures have also stoked speculation that the BOJ will need to shift to a more hawkish stance, with data earlier on Friday showing core inflation sticking above the central bank's target for a 17th straight month.
The BOJ has been a global outlier in keeping to ultra-easy stimulus as the Fed and most other major peers adopt a mantra of higher rates for longer to tackle stubborn inflation. (Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Eileen Soreng)