Tokyo stocks closed lower Tuesday, with the benchmark Nikkei stock index briefly falling to its lowest intraday level in four months, as investor sentiment was dented by heightening geopolitical concerns after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired a missile over Japan.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average lost 87.35 points, or 0.45 percent, from Monday to close the day at 19,362.55.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, shed 2.36 points, or 0.15 percent, to finish at 1,597.76.

Insurance, pulp and paper, and securities house-related issues comprised those that declined the most by the close of play, and retreating issues outpaced advancing ones by 989 to 881 on the First Section.

Brokers here said that the market was in a risk averse mood from the opening bell after the DPRK launched a missile that flew over Japan early on Tuesday morning, although losses were capped by a pause in the U.S. dollar's depreciation against the Japanese yen in later trade.

Traders also said losses were trimmed by speculation about the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) purchases of exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Some investors also opted to hit the sidelines ahead of a slew of U.S. economic data this week, including consumer confidence figures, consumer spending data, and manufacturing and jobs data.

On the main section on Tuesday, 1,387.00 million shares changed hands, rising marginally from Monday's volume of 1,344.92 million shares.

The turnover on the second trading day of the week totaled 1,816.0 billion yen (16.70 billion U.S. dollars).