TOKYO: Japanese stocks fell, extending a global rout, after the scale of the European Central Bank’s additional easing disappointed investors and the yen strengthened.
The Topix index dropped 2 percent to 1,571.76 as of 12:35 p.m. in Tokyo, heading for its biggest drop in a month and toward a 1.4 percent weekly decline. All of its 33 industry groups dropped, led by shippers. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average retreated 2.2 percent to 19,507.87. The yen jumped 0.5 percent against the dollar on Thursday as investors sought haven assets after the ECB boosted stimulus by less than expected.
The ECB’s additional easing “is about 60 percent of what was hoped for,” Mitsuo Shimizu, deputy general manager at Japan Asia Securities Group Ltd. in Tokyo, said by phone. “The market was hoping for some Draghi magic, but instead got some Draghi shock.”
