Tokyo: Tokyo stocks tumbled on Friday as investor sentiment was dashed following a global equity rout triggered by the European Central Bank’s (ECB) announcement of new stimulus measures that were deemed too tepid by world markets.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average dropped 435.42 points, or 2.18 percent, from Thursday to close the week at 19,504.48, Xinhua reported.
The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange lost 28.92 points, or 1.80 percent, to end the day at 1,574.02.
Local brokers here said that trading patterns mirrored those overnight on Wall Street and in Europe, which logged significant losses, with a sour market mood compounded by a comparatively firm yen against the US dollar, which impacted exporter-linked shares.
The major trigger for Friday’s rout here was the ECB opting not to expand the size of its bond buying programme by expected levels and lowering its key deposit interest at a rate less than expected.
ECB chief Mario Draghi saying that the bank would diversify its bond purchases and push back its bond buying deadline, did little to lift global sentiment and in Tokyo major bluechips took a hit.
Among export-linked shares, Toyota skidded down 1.72 percent to 7,692 yen and consumer electronics giant Sony plunged 2.39 percent to 3,091 yen.
Heavily weighted issues closed significantly lower, with Fast Retailing tumbling 3.09 percent to 46,720 yen and SoftBank retreating 2.98 percent to close at 6,375 yen.
Japan’s major shipping lines sank with Mitsui O.S.K. Lines down 3.7 percent at 310 yen and Kawasaki Kisen diving 2.8 percent to close at 241 yen.
All industry categories on the main section closed lower, with shippers, real estate and nonferrous metal-linked shares comprising the biggest decliners.
Trading volume on the main section was 2,047.19 million shares up from Thursday’s volume of 1,863.36 million shares, with a turnover of 2,431.4 billion yen ($19.83 billion).
