Japan Shares Suffer Biggest Daily Loss in 4 Months After Fed Official’s Comments

Japanese stocks suffered their biggest loss in four months on Monday, tracking Wall Street’s plunge last week after a Federal Reserve official said the US central bank may raise interest rates sooner than expected.

All sectors witnessed intense sales, and all sub-indices of the 33 sectors in the stock market declined, except for the airlines index.

The Nikkei lost 3.29%, the biggest percentage drop since February 26, to close at 28,010.93, after touching its lowest level in a month. The broader Topix index lost 2.42 percent to 1,899.45 points, the biggest decline in four months.

After surprising expectations on Wednesday for the US central bank to raise interest rates earlier than expected, comments from St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard exacerbated losses, as he said the shift to policy tightening was the fastest “natural” response to economic growth.

Wall Street’s three major indices closed sharply lower on Friday.

Heavyweight stocks fell on the index, as Uniqlo, owner of Fast Retailing, lost 4.35%.

Chip shares pushed the Nikkei lower, with Tokyo Electron losing 4.02%, Advantest 4.49% and Shin Tsu Chemical losing 5.74%.