Tokyo Shares Plunge on Yen's Weakness; London and Frankfurt End Broadly Lower --- Loss Is Second Biggest in '88; Signs of Tighter Credit Also Disturb Investors
TOKYO -- Investors unsettled by the yen's weakness and signs of tighter credit in Japan sent share prices plunging Thursday on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.</br></br>The Nikkei index plummeted 431.69 points to close at 26934.26, its first move beneath the 27000 level since May 28 and its second-biggest drop of the year. The only bigger decline occurred Aug. 10, when the index lost 615.49 points, in reaction to the U.S. Federal Reserve's discount rate boost.</br></br>Share prices were fluctuating early Friday in Tokyo. At the close of the morning session, the Nikkei index was up 70.38 points to 27004.64. Earlier during the morning, the Nikkei was down.</br></br>The Tokyo stock price index of all issues listed in the first section dropped 34.82 points to 2093.20 on Thursday. First section volume was estimated at a modest 480 million shares, compared with 400 million Wednesday.</br></br>The Tokyo market recorded its steepest intraday loss of the year, sinking more than 664 points at midmorning before rebounding somewhat in the afternoon.