Tokyo shares tumbled below 10,000 points today in reaction to heavy losses on Wall Street and the shock sacking of Japan's foreign minister, brokers said.
The Nikkei-225 average of the Tokyo Stock Exchange lost 1.1% or 106.55 points to end at 9,919.48. It was the first time the benchmark index had fallen below 10,000 points since November 13.
Adding to the gloom, the Topix benchmark of all issues on the market's first section plunged 13.99 points to 964.75 - its lowest level since April 1985, when the index stood at 961.86.
Wall Street stocks fell on worries about further bankruptcies and misleading accounting cases triggered by the Enron scandal last night. The Dow Jones industrials tumbled 2.5% and the Nasdaq shed 2.6%.
Domestic political confusion after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi sacked foreign minister Makiko Tanaka also affected investor sentiment, dealers said. Tanaka was fired yesterday after a series of damaging rows with her civil servants, the latest of which had held up budget proceedings in parliament.
Tech stocks short-circuited on dismal earnings forecasts from Toshiba and Fujitsu coupled with news of more job cuts at Hitachi. Toshiba and Fujitsu also revealed worse-than-expected losses in the third quarter to December, leaving market players to pick over the dismal numbers.
