TOKYO, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks fell on Tuesday tracking Wall Street"s weak finish overnight, as investors were cautious that the U.S. Federal Reserve could raise interest rates as soon as March, while higher U.S. Treasury yields drove a sell-off in technology shares. The Nikkei share average (.N225) fell 0.87% to 28,231.31 by midday close, after falling as much as 1.37%. The broader Topix (.TOPX) lost 0.72% to 1,981.22. "The Japanese market was dragged down by Wall Street"s weak finish for two consecutive sessions and investor sentiment was cautious regarding U.S. monetary policy outlook," Shoichi Arisawa, general manager of the investment research department at IwaiCosmo Securities, said. U.S. stocks fell overnight, as bets that the Fed could raise interest rates as soon as March led investors to pare risky assets and lifted the 10-year Treasury yield to a two-year high. "It is hard to make active bets ahead of the CPI data to be released in the U.S.," Arisawa added. U.S. December consumer inflation data is due to be released on Wednesday, with headline CPI seen coming in at a red-hot 7% on a year-on-year basis, boosting the case for an early increase in interest rates. Technology shares dragged the Nikkei lower, with chip-making equipment maker Tokyo Electron (8035.T) losing 1.77%, global technology start-up investor SoftBank Group (9984.T) falling 2.51% and sensor maker Keyence (6861.T) down 6.34%.