Japan stocks slide 3% after Wall Street's worst rout since August 5

Japanese stocks fell in the wake of Wall Street’s worst rout since the Aug. 5 market meltdown, with tech shares following US peers lower.

Japanese stocks fell in the wake of Wall Street’s worst rout since the Aug. 5 market meltdown, with tech shares following US peers lower.

A man walks in front of an electronic quotation board displaying share prices on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo.(AFP)

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined as much as 3.3% to 37,411.98, heading for its steepest drop since Aug. 5, when the gauge entered a bear market. The broader Topix fell about 3%.  

Exporters weighed on the benchmark after the yen jumped about 1% against the dollar, spurring concerns over their earnings. Banks faced selling pressure after long-term Treasury yields declined on bets the Federal Reserve will cut rates to prevent a recession in the US economy. 

“Tech stocks will likely weigh on indexes after losses in US stocks led by Nvidia,” said Ryuta Otsuka, a strategist at Toyo Securities Co. In Japan, corporate data confirms strong business performance, and “policy expectations are likely to emerge ahead of the LDP election, making today’s expected selloff an excellent opportunity for investors to buy.”

The official campaigning for this month’s Liberal Democratic Party leadership election begins on Sept. 12.