Nikkei Plunging to Lowest Level All Year..
Thursday May 18, 10:13 pm Eastern Time
Nikkei tumbles 2.45% by midday to near year low
TOKYO, May 19 (Reuters) - Japanese large-cap technology stocks tumbled Friday morning following another sharp drop by their U.S. counterparts overnight, dragging the benchmark Nikkei average down to its lowest level in almost a year.
On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Nikkei fell 417.45 points or 2.45 percent to 16,614.18. It briefly touched a low of 16,572.05 -- the lowest since June 9, 1999, when it hit 16,450.76.
``I'm afraid the selling will continue until Nasdaq settles down, which may take another few weeks,'' said Tetsuya Ishijima, chief strategist at Okasan Securities. ``There have been quite a few good earnings results from domestic firms, but their impact on market sentiment has been very limited.''
The Nasdaq composite index (^IXIC - news) fell 2.91 percent to 3,538.71 overnight, and the Tokyo market feared more selling by foreigners, mainly U.S. investors, to cover losses there.
biz.yahoo.com
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