Tokyo, April 19 (SocialNews.XYZ) Tokyo stocks closed sharply lower on Friday, weighed down by the risk-off sentiment stemming from the escalating conflict in the Middle East.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock index, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average, ended down 1,011.35 points, or 2.66 per cent, from Thursday at 37,068.35, suffering the largest point drop since February 26, 2021, Xinhua news agency reported.
The broader Topix index, meanwhile, finished 51.13 points, or 1.91 per cent, lower at 2,626.32.
Stocks fell sharply from the outset, with the Nikkei briefly losing over 1,300 points, falling below the 37,000 line for the first time in over two months, as news of Israel's attack on Iran, which led to a jump in crude oil prices and the buying of safer U.S. bonds, shook investors and spurred selling of stocks across the board, analysts said.
Heavyweight semiconductor issues suffered heavy losses from the start of trading, with Tokyo Electron dropping 8.7 per cent, while Advantest shed 4.4 per cent.
Source: IANS
About Gopi
Gopi Adusumilli is a Programmer. He is the editor of SocialNews.XYZ and President of AGK Fire Inc.
He enjoys designing websites, developing mobile applications and publishing news articles on current events from various authenticated news sources.
When it comes to writing he likes to write about current world politics and Indian Movies. His future plans include developing SocialNews.XYZ into a News website that has no bias or judgment towards any.
He can be reached at gopi@socialnews.xyz