TOKYO, Sep. 28, 2009 (Xinhua News Agency) -- Tokyo stocks closed sharply lower Monday with the key Nikkei index down 2.50 percent to a new closing low in two months as Japan's main exporters were hard hit by a surge in the yen.
The U.S. dollar briefly fell to a nine-month low in the lower 88 yen range Monday morning in Tokyo, putting heavy pressure on exporters, whose earnings will be hurt by eroded overseas profits.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Average shed 256.46 points to 10,009. 52.
The broader Topix index lost 19.83 points, or 2.15 percent, to 902.84.
"Many exporters have set their currency rate assumption at 90- 95 yen, and if the dollar/yen were to stay below 90 yen, the impact on their earnings would be huge and that's a concern," Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities, was quoted as saying.
Major decliners included the sea transport, iron and steel, and securities shares while the electricity and gas, warehouse and retailer issues were among the few gainers.
Among exporters, Tokyo Electron (OOTC:TOELY) dipped 5.2 percent to 5,520; Honda Motor was down 5 percent to 2,675 yen and chip-tester maker Advantest Corp (NYSE:ATE) shed 4.1 percent to 2,435 yen.
Value leader Nomura Holdings (NYSE:NMR) plunged 33 yen, or almost 6 percent, to 540 yen while volume leader Mizuho Financial Group (NYSE:MFG) slid 4 yen, or over 2 percent, to 172 yen.
On the First Section, declining shares beat advancing ones 1, 138 to 458.
Trading volume on the main section expanded to 2,210.47 million shares from 1,965.25 million Friday.
The TSE's Second Section index fell 38.11 points, or 1.69 percent, to 2,220.91 on a volume of 35.01 million shares.
On the Osaka Securities Exchange, the near-term December Nikkei 225 index futures contract dropped 280 points to 10,030.
