Japan's Nikkei stock index down nearly 7 percent

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Japanese stocks veered sharply downhill Wednesday, as spreading pessimism over corporate earnings and a strengthening yen sent the benchmark index tumbling almost 7 percent. Equity markets opened lower following an overnight retreat on Wall Street, but Japanese stocks widened losses in the afternoon on a flurry of bad news that aggravated fears about the global slowdown. The Nikkei 225 stock average fell 631.56 points, or 6.79 percent, to 8,674.69. The broader Topix index lost 7.05 percent to 889.23. Particularly hard hit were major banks, which slumped on speculation that they would undershoot interim profit forecasts. Japan's largest bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., shed 8.83 percent to 774 yen, and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. dived 8.01 percent to 505,000 yen. The Nikkei financial daily reported Wednesday that Mitsubishi UFJ would miss its net profit projection for the April-September period by about two-thirds due to higher bad loan costs and the falling value of its shareholdings.