Tokyo stocks fell sharply Wednesday, as shock and fear pushed the benchmark Nikkei average of 225 leading stocks below the psychologically sensitive 10,000 mark for the first time in 17 years, closing at 9,610.10.
Panic selling following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington on Tuesday triggered the fall.
Nervous investors fled first to the safe havens of commodities and bonds, and then became still more nervous and sought even greater liquidity in short-term yen assets during Wednesday's trading in Tokyo.