Japanese shares fell to their lowest level since early January on Monday (Aug. 5), extending last week's decline amid a global market slump and concerns that yen-funded investments may be unwound.
The Nikkei stock index has fallen 15 percent in three sessions and is set for its biggest three-day drop since 2011, led by banking stocks.
Banking stocks plunged as much as 7 percent to 33,369.37 early in the session, hitting their lowest level since early January. The latest decline was 5.6 percent to 33,912.29 at 0057 GMT.
The yen, the local currency often considered a safe haven and used to fund investments, was trading at 145.43, up 0.8 percent against the dollar, after hitting a mid-January high of 145.28 in early deals.
The yen has strengthened 10 percent against the dollar in more than three weeks, partly due to the Bank of Japan's interest rate hike last week and the unwinding of yen-funded investments.
U.S. stocks fell for a second straight day on Friday. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell sharply after a poor jobs report raised concerns about a possible recession and expectations that the U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve, will cut interest rates significantly in September.
“Domestic stocks plunged purely on concerns that the US economy may be heading for a recession,” said Shoichi Arisawa, general manager of the investment research department at IwaiCosmo Securities.
“Today's sell-off was driven by fears that Wall Street will fall again later in the day,” he added.
Chipmaker Tokyo Electron fell 8.4 percent, the biggest drag on the Nikkei. Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing dropped 4 percent, while tech investor SoftBank Group dropped 6.9 percent.
The banking sector fell 12 percent, the sector with the biggest decline among 33 industry categories on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. (ah/rs)
