Nasdaq's sharp fall weighs heavy on Nikkei

Japanese shares closed lower yesterday on declines in information technology stocks following the sharp falls on the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index on Monday.

The Nikkei-225 Index dropped 96.54 points to end at 20,522.52.

The Topix Index shed 15.65 points to 1,701.09 and the Nikkei-300 Index eased 2.1 points to 327.2.

There were 419 risers and 830 losers, with 139 other stocks unchanged.

'The market was hit by [Monday's performance on] Nasdaq as it posted its second-largest [one-day point] decline,' Yamamaru Securities investment information division head Hidetoshi Nakanishi said.

The declines were led by falls in high-technology and telecommunications stocks as well as Internet counters, with weakness in the financial sector accelerating the falls, dealers said.