TOKYO: Tokyo shares tumbled 3.21 percent in late afternoon trading Tuesday, following Chinese stocks lower as disappointing manufacturing data gave further indications of a slowdown in the world’s second largest economy.
The Nikkei index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange dropped 606.34 points to 18,284.14 about half an hour before the close, while the Topix index of all first section shares fell 3.37 percent, or 51.77 points, to 1,485.28.
The fall tracked Shanghai equities turning lower after another batch of weak manufacturing data supplied more evidence of a slowdown in the Chinese economy.
“The trend toward deceleration has become clear” in China, Masaaki Yamaguchi, a Tokyo-based equity market strategist at Nomura Holdings, told Bloomberg News.
“This isn’t particularly surprising, but the market continues to be very sensitive to the direction in China,” he said.
China’s statistics bureau said its Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) of manufacturing activity came in at 49.7 last month, its lowest since August 2012.
While the figure is better than last week’s preliminary private reading from Chinese media group Caixin — which hit a six-and-a-half-year low — it is still below the 50-point mark that indicates contraction.
The indexes are seen as key barometers of the Asian giant’s economic health, a key driver of global growth.
Analysts have voiced concern that markets are still not free of the turbulence that sparked huge sell-offs and sharp recoveries across the world last week.
