By V. Phani Kumar
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Japanese shares plunged at the steepest rate so far this year on Monday as investors dumped stocks following a sell-off on Wall Street and spreading fiscal troubles in Europe. The Nikkei tumbled to 9,520.80, dropping 3.8% for its worst percentage loss of 2010. The broader Topix index lost 3.5% to 859.21. Steelmakers, property developers and exporters paced the fall, with JFE Holdings (JP:5411 3,055, -35.00, -1.13%) (JFEEY 0.00, 0.00, 0.00%) dropping 5.4%, Mitsui Fudosan Co. (JP:8801 1,413, -17.00, -1.19%) (MTSFY 46.09, 0.00, 0.00%) shrank 5.7% and Sony Corp. (JP:6758 2,771, -10.00, -0.36%) (SNE 29.24, -0.81, -2.70%) tumbled 4.8%. |
