TOKYO, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday, with the benchmark Nikkei stock index tumbling almost 4 percent, tracking overnight plunges on bourses in Europe and the United States on concerns about a recent rise in long-term U.S. Treasury yields.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average plummeted 915.18 points, or 3.89 percent, from Wednesday to close the day at 22,590.86.
The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, tumbled 62.00 points, or 3.52 percent, to finish at 1,701.86.
Tokyo stocks were pressured from the off, local brokers said, with the Nikkei posting its biggest one-day loss since March, as the market mood was dented by Wall Street's overnight losses amounting to the biggest declines in eight months.
Hammering tech-related issues here, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 3.15 percent overnight to post the third-biggest point decline in U.S. history, with a rout on European bourses also triggered by concerns over a recent rise in long-term U.S. Treasury yields contributing to the selloff.
"Investors could not buy Japanese stocks on dips today before they see if the Dow's plunge stops when the New York market opens later in the day," Mitsuo Shimizu, an equity strategist at Aizawa Securities Co., was quoted as saying.
He added that investors were nervous about the rout not being short-lived and noted that institutional investors quickly moved to lock-in gains to secure their positions, triggering the global selloff.
Along with tech-related issues, exporters here also lost ground owing to the yen rising against the U.S. dollar to the lower 112 level, market strategists here said.
Among tech-issues that posted significant losses, Fanuc tumbled 6.8 percent to 19,005 yen, while TDK lost 6.2 percent to 10,540 yen.
Yaskawa Electric dropped 6.1 percent, following the firm cutting its annual net profit forecast, and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. fell 6.8 percent.
Chip-makers were also among the day's notable decliners, with Tokyo Electron dropping 3.9 percent, while Advantest Corp. relinquished 4.5 percent. Shin-Etsu Chemical, a silicon products maker, meanwhile, lost 4.3 percent.
Don Quijote Holdings, a discount store chain, however, was one of the day's rare winners, leaping 10.4 percent to end the day at 6,680 yen, following FamilyMart Uny Holdings announcing the sale of its stake in Uny to Don Quijote.
By the close of play, all industry categories on the main section closed in negative territory, with oil and coal product and mining and machinery-linked issues comprising those that declined the most, and falling issues battered rising ones by 2,050 to 56, while four ended the day unchanged.
On the main section on Thursday, 1,952.48 million shares changed hands, rising from Wednesday's volume of 1,345.06 million shares.
The turnover on the penultimate trading day of the week came to 3,758.7 billion yen (33.48 billion U.S. dollars).
