Japan's Nikkei Suffers Worst Drop Since 1987 Black Monday

On Monday, Japan's stock market officially entered bear territory as Asia-Pacific markets continued last week's sell-off. Both the Nikkei 225 and Topix indexes plummeted over 12%.

The benchmark indexes have dropped more than 20% from their all-time highs recorded on July 11.

The Nikkei 225 suffered a staggering 12.4% decline, closing at 31,458.42. This marked its worst day since the infamous "Black Monday" of 1987. The index lost 4,451.28 points, the largest single-day point drop in its history, erasing all its gains for the year and moving into a loss position.

The broader Topix index also experienced a significant downturn, tumbling 12.23% to close at 2,227.15.

Heavyweight trading houses such as Mitsubishi, Mitsui & Co, Sumitomo, and Marubeni saw sharp declines, with each plunging over 14%. Mitsui faced the most severe hit, losing nearly 20% of its market capitalization. Monday's decline followed a dramatic drop on Friday, where the Nikkei 225 and Topix fell more than 5% and 6%, respectively.

Additionally, the yen strengthened to its highest level against the dollar since January, trading at 142.09.