Roundup: Nikkei plunges to close below 10,000 line

Thursday, Oct 29,2009, 5:18:46 PM Click:

Japan's key Nikkei stock index plunged Thursday to close below 10,000 for the first time in three weeks, dragged down by a stronger yen and sharp losses in Wall Street.

The benchmark Nikkei-225 index shed 183.95 points, or 1.83 percent, from Wednesday to 9,891.10.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was down 6.54 points, or 0.74 percent, to 882. 26.

Decliners were led by rubber product, mining, and glass and ceramics issues. Major gainers included the banking, air transport and insurance sectors.

Despite gains made by Japan's industrial output in September, Tokyo stocks failed to respond positively to the economic gauges.

On the First Section, declining issues outnumbered advancing issues 1,162 to 426, with 100 others remaining unchanged.

Higher yen dragged down export-oriented shares, as it erodes their profits when repatriated. Nissan Motor fell 21 yen, or over 3 percent, to 641 yen, and Fujitsu lost 11 yen, or about 2 percent, to 546 yen.

Resource-related shares slumped as crude oil futures hit a two- week low in New York. Japan Petroleum Exploration plunged 240 yen, or about 5 percent, to 4,500 yen, and trading house Marubeni fell about 3 percent.

Bucking the downward trend, megabanks advanced on buying after recent declines, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, the day's value leader, up 21 yen, or over 4 percent, to 488 yen. Volume leader Mizuho Financial Group rose 7 yen, or about 4 percent, to 179 yen.

Japan Airlines rose 3 yen, or almost 3 percent, to 115 yen on hopes that its rehabilitation plan may be finalized soon.

Trading volume on the main section came to 2,642.89 million shares, up from Wednesday's 1,819.50 million, marking the most active trading day since September.

The TSE's Second Section index was down 7.27 points, or 0.34 percent, to 2,161.44 on a volume of 78.44 million shares. On the Osaka Securities Exchange, the near-term December Nikkei 225 index futures contract was down 200 points to 9,880.