Nikkei falls in thin trade on caution over earnings, Ukraine

By Hideyuki Sano TOKYO (Reuters) - Tokyo shares dropped on Tuesday, unable to maintain earlier gains, on caution over upcoming Japanese corporate earnings reports and tensions in Ukraine. The Nikkei average closed down 0.9 percent at 14,388.77, after rising as much as 0.6 percent earlier. The broader Topix fell 0.8 percent to 1,162.50, though trading volume was the second lowest so far this year. The new JPX-Nikkei Index 400 shed 0.7 percent to 10,579.99. (Editing by Chris Gallagher)