TOKYO, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed at a two-month low on Tuesday as investor sentiment was stricken tracking an overnight plunge on Wall Street.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average closed down 152.24 points, or 0.58 percent, from Monday at 26,167.10, posting its lowest closing level since March 16.
The broader Topix index closed 16.01 points, or 0.85 percent, lower at 1,862.38.
On the top-tier Prime Market, decliners were led by mining, wholesale trade and marine transportation issues.
The Nikkei briefly plunged over 2 percent to below the 26,000 mark in morning trading for the first time in about two months on an intraday basis.
However, the decline was later offset after sentiment improved following a rise in U.S. stock futures which prompted investors to hunt for bargains, according to brokers.
The plunge in Tokyo stocks followed sharp overnight falls in Wall Street and major markets in Europe.
In addition, investor sentiment was dampened by lingering worries that the U.S. Federal Reserve will take more aggressive measures to tighten its monetary policy to fight high inflation in the United States, according to brokers.
The U.S. central bank raised its key interest rates by half a percentage point last week, the biggest hike in over 20 years, following its previous rate hike in March for the first time since December 2018.
Among Prime Market issues, declining issues outnumbered advancing ones by 1,062 to 704, while 71 closed unchanged.
Some automakers finished lower as concerns grow over global supply chain disruptions.
Toyota Motor plummeted 3.0 percent, while Nissan Motor shrank 2.4 percent.
Nikkei heavyweight Sony Group lost 3.1 percent due to caution among investors before the company released its earnings for the business year of 2021 later in the day, according to brokers.
On the other hand, Canon gained 2.7 percent after it said Monday it will buy back up to 50 billion yen (384 million U.S. dollars) worth of its shares.
Trading volume on the Prime Market increased to 1,372.45 million shares compared to Monday's 1,263.42 million. ■
