Tokyo shares plunge on weak US stocks following Fed official's comment

Tokyo shares plunged Monday with the Nikkei index down over 2 percent for a moment, as a result of the weak U.S. stocks on growing speculation of an early interest rate hike following hawkish comment of a U.S. Federal Reserve official.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average ended down 292.84 points, or 1.73 percent, from Friday at 16,672.92.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange finished 20.76 points, or 1.54 percent, lower at 1,323.10.

Every industry category on the main section lost ground, led by mining, iron and steel, and financial issues.

The day's turnover was about 1,791.3 billion yen (around 17.48 billion U.S. dollars).

Source: XINHUA