The Nikkei Stock Average dipped below its post-bubble closing low at one point during trading Thursday but recovered to end only slightly lower.
The benchmark 225-issue Nikkei, which retreated 148.28 points Wednesday, lost a further 26.72 points, or 0.2 percent, to finish at 13,073.36, its lowest close since Oct. 15, 1998. However, the broader Topix measure of all First Section issues more than recouped its morning losses and ended marginally higher, up 1.30 points, or 0.1 percent, at 1,242.09.
The Nikkei hit 12,861.33 shortly after 9:30 a.m., down nearly 240 points from its close Wednesday, and below the 12,879.97 logged Oct. 9, 1998, its lowest close since the burst of the late 1980s asset-inflated bubble economy.
Tokyo equities took a severe beating in the morning from an overnight plunge in U.S. share prices. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index dropped 49.41 points to 2,268.94 on Wednesday, its lowest close in nearly two years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also fell sharply, by 204.30 points, to end at 10,526.58.