Asahi Bank President Yukio Yanase said the sharp plunge in Asahi shares Thursday was caused by the market's poor understanding of its strategy, though he failed to offer new information that would ease concerns about the major bank.

Asahi Bank shares closed the day on the Tokyo Stock Exchange at 102 yen, having fallen 9.73 percent, or 11 yen.

At one stage the shares had briefly plunged nearly 25 percent to a yearly low of 76 yen, on concerns about the bank's financial health, prompting Yanase to hold an emergency news conference aimed at halting the decline.

"The fall was triggered by speculative sales for short-term profit and does not mirror our bank's fundamentals," he said. "Our bank is clearly being oversold."

Asahi, which is widely perceived to be struggling with thinning capital and low excess reserves, will merge with Daiwa Bank as scheduled by March, Yanase said.

"I will keep on repeating what I have been saying until people understand" that the bank is serious about righting its finances, Yanase said. But he declined to release any new information about the level of its excess reserves or its plans for bad-loan disposal for the fiscal year.

Concerns over the speed and scope of Japan's efforts to resolve banks' massive problem loans have been weighing heavily on banks in general, pushing the share prices of the nation's top four banks to new lows for the year.

Asahi has been the subject of big sell orders by institutional investors.