The benchmark Nikkei 225 index ended down 5.81% as Wall Street stocks plunged.
Japanese stocks fell sharply as Wall Street stocks fell on concerns about the U.S. economy and the strong yen.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed 5.81% (2,216.63 points) lower at 35,909.70 on Friday. This was the second largest point drop in history and the largest percentage drop since March 2020, when the pandemic began.
The broader Topix index fell 6.14 percent, or 166.09 points, to 2,537.60.
Iwai Cosmo Securities said, “The chain of stock price declines has not stopped,” in response to the decline in indexes in the United States and Europe.
Most Tokyo stocks suffered losses from early trading on Friday, and ended the previous day sharply lower, it added.
On Wall Street, all three major indexes ended decisively lower, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq index dropping the most, at 2.3%, as weak manufacturing data led to concerns about a U.S. recession. .
Daiwa Securities said, “Market sentiment has cooled rapidly due to the decline in New York stock prices, the Bank of Japan’s additional interest rate hike, and further appreciation of the yen.”
The yen has strengthened since the Bank of Japan’s decision to raise interest rates earlier this week and comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve hinting at a rate cut as early as September.
The dollar was at 149.24 yen, down from 149.66 yen in New York and below the rate of about 152 yen before the Bank of Japan’s policy decision on Wednesday.
Among major stocks, Tokyo Electron fell 11.98% to 27,055 yen, and SoftBank Group fell 8.03% to 7,868 yen. Toyota Motor Corporation fell 4.22% to 2,585 yen.
