Tokyo stocks plunge in morning on concerns over global economic outlook

TOKYO, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks plunged Friday morning tracking sharp losses on Wall Street overnight after Apple Inc.'s lowered sales outlook sparked concerns about the near term health of the global economy.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average dropped 607.37 points, or 3.03 percent, from last Friday to 19,407.40.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, lost 33.58 points, or 2.25 percent, at 1,460.51.

Precision instrument, electric appliance and machinery issues comprised those that declined the most by the morning break on the first trading day of 2019.

Markets here were closed from Monday to Thursday for holidays.