TOKYO: Tokyo stocks fell 2.38 percent to a two-month low Tuesday, tracking a sell-off on Wall Street, as a stronger yen hurt exporters on the first day of trade after a long weekend.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange tumbled 364.04 points to 14,936.51, its lowest since early August, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares was down 2.32 percent, or 28.82 points, at 1,214.27.
Among the major losers were Japan's two major airlines, which were hit by the latest Ebola scare.
"If Wall Street can hold up in the face of slowdowns in Europe and jitters over Chinese growth, present Nikkei levels may represent a buying opportunity," an equity trading director at a European brokerage told Dow Jones Newswires.
US stocks finished sharply lower again Monday, hit by worries about global growth ahead of major company earnings releases.
The Dow tumbled 1.35 percent, the S&P 500 sank 1.65 percent and the Nasdaq fell 1.46 percent.
The dollar was at 107.08 yen in afternoon trade, up from 106.83 yen in New York but sharply down from 107.79 yen in Tokyo on Friday before the three-day weekend.
The Japanese currency often draws buying as a safe currency in times of uncertainty but its appreciation is negative for Japanese exporters as it erodes their repatriated profits.
Toyota fell 3.89 percent to 5,978.0 yen, while Sony closed down 3.18 percent at 1,822.0 yen.
The latest Ebola scare sent ANA Holdings tumbling 5.26 percent to 230.10 yen while Japan Airlines fell 5.45 percent to 2,652.0 yen.
On Monday, five people with flu-like symptoms were evacuated from a passenger jet in Boston after the flight was quarantined on arrival from Dubai.
Ebola was later ruled out, but it was at least the third Ebola scare on a commercial flight within the United States in just days.
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