TOKYO: Tokyo stocks closed down 1.61 per cent, tracking falls on Wall Street and another plunge on China’s main index as weak trade data hinted at the fragility of Japan’s recovery.
But Toshiba shares bucked the downturn, soaring 7.71 per cent to Y393.9 after the scandal-hit conglomerate announced late on Tuesday it would appoint a host of renowned Japanese business people as outside directors.
The management shuffle comes after one of Japan’s best-known firms was hammered by a billion-dollar accounting scandal that uncovered a corporate culture in which top bosses routinely pressured subordinates to inflate profits.
At the close on Wednesday, the Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange slid 331.84 points to 20,222.63 yen, while the Topix index of all first-section shares lost 1.42 per cent, or 23.74 points, to end at 1,648.48.
Shortly before the opening bell, official data for July pointed to weakness in Japanese exports as demand falls in China, fuelling concerns about the world’s No.3 economy, which contracted in the second quarter.
Investors remain jittery about China after the benchmark Shanghai index tumbled 6.15 per cent on Tuesday, its biggest fall in three weeks. It fell more than five per cent earlier on Wednesday.
“Another big drop in Chinese equities is leading to concern over the Chinese economy – we’re lacking reasons to aggressively buy in Japan,” SMBC Nikko Securities manager Hiroichi Nishi told Bloomberg News.
