TOKYO: Tokyo stocks ended lower Thursday, with investors in the grip of contagion fears on concerns about European giant Credit Suisse after the collapse of two regional US banks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.80 percent, or 218.87 points, to end at 27,010.61, while the broader Topix index lost 1.17 percent, or 23.02 points, to 1,937.10.
The dollar fetched 132.86 yen, against 133.43 yen in New York late Wednesday.
The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank had already left investors in panic mode and scrambling to sell when news of trouble at Credit Suisse added to their dismay.
Switzerland’s second-biggest bank tanked nearly 25 percent after Saudi National Bank – its main shareholder – said it would “absolutely not” up its stake in the firm.
Credit Suisse’s plunge on the stock market “propagated the view among investors that uncertainties over the financial sector, triggered by the US bank collapses, were spilling over to Europe,” IwaiCosmo Securities said in a note.
Tokyo stocks close down over 2%
The Tokyo market started with Nikkei sharply down 1.65 percent.
But “excessive fears receded” once the news broke that Credit Suisse would borrow almost $54 billion from the Swiss central bank to reinforce the group, the brokerage added.
Among major shares in Tokyo, SoftBank Group slid 1.44 percent to 4,897 yen, Sony Group lost 0.75 percent to 11,235 yen and Toyota trimmed 1.21 percent to 1,790 yen.
Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing was down 0.76 percent to 27,725 yen.
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