24th August 2011
Japan's leading stock index fell on Wednesday after the nation's sovereign debt rating was downgraded by Moody's Investors Service.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 ended down 1.1 per cent at 8,639.61, while the broader Topix index lost 1.1 percent to close at 742.24.
Moody's cited Japan's weak prospects for growth, large budget deficit and ongoing political uncertainty as the main reasons for the downgrade, which saw the rating cut by one notch from Aa2 to Aa3.
Economic problems in Japan have been exacerbated by the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that struck the country in March, as well as the subsequent nuclear crisis.
Market analyst at Monex Inc Toshiyuki Kanayama told Reuters that many Japanese investors "shrugged off" the downgrade, but some foreign speculators used it as an opportunity to take profits.
Wednesday saw 2.2 billion shares change hands on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's main board, compared with a daily average of 1.7 billion last week.
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