Tokyo’s markets were lower on Tuesday as they reopened after Monday’s Respect for the Aged Day holiday.
The Nikkei 225 dropped 2.02 percent to 15,801.80, while the Topix index fell 2.19 percent to 1,510.95 and the Mothers market was 2.64 percent lower to 620.42.
Banks were lower on continuing fallout from Northern Rock’s (LSE: NRK) problems in the UK and on expectations that several US investment banks will report quarterly losses later in the week.
Mitsubishi UFJ (TYO: 8306; NYSE: MTU) dropped 3.9 percent to ¥990,000, the first time it has fallen below the ¥1 million level in just over two years.
Besides the general disorder in the banking sector, Mitsubishi UFJ was also sent lower by a report that its US unit was fined nearly $32 million in the US over inadequate protections against money laundering.
Sumitomo Mitsui (TYO: 8316) was down 5.1 percent to ¥776,000 and Mizuho ( TYO: 8411; NYSE: MFG) fell 7.9 percent to ¥605,000.
Non-bank lenders also had a bad day of it. Acom (TYO: 8572; OTC: ACMU) was 5.6 percent lower to ¥2,765, while Aiful (TYO: 8515) dropped 9.7 percent to ¥1,855 and Credia (TYO: 8567) plummeted 32 percent to ¥167 after it filed for bankruptcy protection, saying that it will have problems raising capital and repaying debt.
Most exporters fared little better, but camera and office equipment manufacturer Canon (TYO: 7751; NYSE: CAJ) added 1.7 percent to ¥6,090 as it announced a share buyback worth as much as ¥50 billion.
Carmaker Toyota Motor (TYO: 7203.T; NYSE: TM; LSE: TYT) was down 2.1 percent to ¥6,390 and electronics giant Sony (TYO: 6758; NYSE: SNE) fell 2.2 percent to ¥5,300 on fears that the US economy could be affected by problems in the credit markets.