Tokyo Stocks Close Thursday with Losses

(MENAFN) Tokyo stocks tumbled sharply on Thursday, with the benchmark Nikkei shedding more than 2% as mounting fears over a protracted Middle East conflict triggered a broad market retreat.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average shed 1,276.41 points, or 2.38%, closing at 52,463.27 — a steep reversal from the prior session. The wider Topix index mirrored the decline, finishing 59.23 points, or 1.61%, lower at 3,611.67.

Trading opened on a firmer note, with Tokyo equities initially drawing support from overnight gains on Wall Street. The optimism, however, proved short-lived. Sentiment deteriorated sharply after US President Donald Trump delivered a televised address that signaled the possibility of additional military strikes against Iran, analysts said, sending investors rushing for the exits on growing concern that the conflict could prove far more enduring than markets had anticipated.

The swift reversal underscored the sensitivity of Asian markets to geopolitical developments in the Middle East, where renewed hostilities have already rattled energy markets and reshaped global inflation expectations. With no clear resolution in sight, risk appetite evaporated across the Tokyo trading floor, erasing the session's early gains entirely and leaving benchmarks deep in the red by the closing bell.

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