Japan Stocks Dive On Cyprus Deposit-levy Plan

Published March 17, 2013

| MarketWatch Pulse

LOS ANGELES – Japanese stocks followed other Asian markets and U.S. index futures sharply lower Monday amid global jitters over Cyprus's plan to impose a levy on bank deposits as part of its bailout program. The Nikkei Stock Average fell 2% to 12,314.66, with the Topix down 1.6%, even as Dow Jones Newswires reported that Cyprus and its prospective international lenders may change the plan to protect small depositors. With the bailout plan causing a run on banks in Cyprus, financials and exporters took an especially heavy hit in Tokyo, with Sony Corp. and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. each down 3%, Tokyo Electron Ltd. falling 3.9%, Toyota Motor Corp. off 2.3%, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. plunging 3.7%, and Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co. losing 3.2%. On the upside, Panasonic Corp. rose 1% after a Nikkei news report said the company was considering closing its plasma-television operations.

URL

http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2013/03/17/japan-stocks-dive-on-cyprus-deposit-levy-plan/