TOKYO, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Nikkei index on Wednesday plummeted to its lowest level in nearly five months amid growing concerns about Japan's economic recovery as the country logged a new high in the number of COVID-19 cases the previous day.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average finished down 790.02 points, or 2.80 percent, from Tuesday at 27,467.23, its lowest level since Aug. 20.
The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange ended 58.66 points, or 2.97 percent, lower at 1,919.72.
Declining issues were led by marine transportation, electric appliance and precision instrument issues.
The Tokyo market went lower from the beginning, pushing the Nikkei below the 28,000 line. In the afternoon, the benchmark continued its losses and briefly dropped over 900 points after U.S. stock futures and some weak Asian markets also saw a decline.
Market sentiment was depressed as uncertainty was rising over the continuation of Japan's economic recovery.
Japan on Wednesday declared a COVID-19 quasi-state of emergency for Tokyo, neighboring Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa and nine other prefectures, following a new biggest number of over 30,000 daily COVID-19 cases across the country on Tuesday, which surpassed the previous record of 25,992 confirmed in August last year.
"Investors have been cautious about the recent surge in infections, as it may disrupt supply chains further and spur inflation," said Maki Sawada, a strategist in Nomura Securities Co.'s investment content department.
Large-cap high-tech shares led selling after the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell more than 2 percent, as issues such as Tokyo Electron extended losses and dragged down the market further in the afternoon, she added.
Meanwhile, crude oil prices soared to the highest level since October 2014 in New York trading, intensifying the negative mood as the upward trend could squeeze corporate profits, brokers said.
On the First Section, decliners outnumbered advancers 2,111 to 58, while 15 finished unchanged.
Sony Group tumbled 12.8 percent, a day after Microsoft Corp. said it would buy gaming company Activision Blizzard Inc., lifting concerns on the possible increasing intensified competition within the gaming industry.
Among high-tech shares, Murata Manufacturing declined 5.9 percent, TDK went down 5.4 percent, and Tokyo Electron sagged 6.1 percent.
Exporters such as automobile manufacturers were also struck as the yen turned strong against the dollar. Suzuki Motor sank 3.4 percent, and Mazda Motor slid 2.9 percent.
Toyota Motor fell 5.0 percent, a day after the automaker said it may fail to reach its global output target of 9 million vehicles for the year through March.
Trading volume on the main section increased to 1,513.74 million shares from Tuesday's 1,226.57 million shares. ■