Tokyo shares lose ground on weak U.S. economy data

Tokyo shares opened the trading Monday sharply lower as sentiment was hit by weak U.S. economic data and declines on Wall Street last week, with the Nikkei index briefly falling to a one-year closing low.

At 9:15 a.m., the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average plunged 475.49 points, or 2.77 percent, from Friday to 16,671.62.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was down 36.83 points, or 2.63 percent, to 1,365.62. Endit