Stock market declines continued in Japan on Monday, with the Nikkei 225 down 3.3 percent to 16,642.25, beginning with a drop of over 340 points in the first fifteen minutes of the session and ending up 575.68 points lower on the session. The Topix index was also lower, falling 3.4 percent to 1,662.71. The Mothers market of small and mid-cap stocks was 7.4 percent lower to 988.14, its lowest closing level ever. Losses came in both domestic and export-focused sectors.
Automobile manufactures dropped 3 percent as a whole, with Toyota (TYO: 7203.T; NYSE: TM; LSE: TYT) down 3.2 percent to ¥7,460. Meanwhile, machinery makers were down 4.7 percent as a sector. Komatsu (TYO: 6301), which makes construction equipment, fell 4.1 percent to ¥2,475.
Among domestic sectors, consumer finance lenders saw declines. Aiful (TYO: 8515) was 7.6 percent lower to ¥2,920.
The real estate sector was down 4.4 percent as a whole. Sumitomo Realty & Development (TYO 8830) did even worse than the sector as it dropped 6.6 percent to ¥4,400.
In the telecommunications sector, Softbank (TYO: 9984) was down 6.4 percent to ¥2,565, hurt by brokerage warnings about its accounting practices last week.