Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei Stock Average nosedived on Friday with its biggest one-day drop since the “Black Monday” crash in 1987. Investors worried whether a gloomier US economic outlook would impact the Japanese economy.
The Nikkei 225 plummeted by 2,216 points, or 5.8 percent, to finish at 35,909.
Investors unloaded shares across the board following an overnight tech-driven selloff in New York, triggered by a series of weaker-than-expected US economic data.
The rise of the yen against the dollar also prompted investors to sell Japanese stocks.
The Nikkei 225 finished below the 36,000 mark for the first time in six months. The index had been on an upward trend this year and hit its all-time closing high about three weeks ago when it went above 42,000.