Tokyo stocks ended sharply lower Monday, with the benchmark Nikkei logging its biggest point drop since Feb. 26 amid fears of a possible U.S. interest rate hike next year following remarks from a Federal Reserve official late last week.
The 225-issue Nikkei average ended down 953.15 points, or 3.29%, from Friday at 28,010.93, its lowest closing since May 17. The broader Topix index of all first section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange finished 47.11 points, or 2.42%, lower at 1,899.45.
The selloff briefly sent the Nikkei average down as much as 4%, the most since April 2020, amid a global selloff on concerns of less accommodative U.S. monetary policy. With large percentages of economically sensitive shares, Japan has been particularly hard hit.