Tokyo shares follow Europe and US falls

Tokyo shares fell sharply in early trading on Tuesday,
following the trends set in Europe and the US.
The Nikkei 225 was down 4.6% at 16,226.3 by midday.
Earlier, US and European shares were pulled down by big
falls among banking and technology stocks. Deutsche Bank
led the fallers, dropping 9.5%.
The Dow Jones dropped 1.1%, the FTSE 100 in London fell
2.7% and the Athens stock exchange dropped to a 25-year
low.
The banks were the biggest fallers in Tokyo, with
Mitsubishi UFJ dropping 7.2%, Sumitomo Mitsui down
6.6% and Mizuho Financial Group losing 5.3%.
The strengthening yen also hit big exporters, with the
currency up 0.8% against the dollar.
Toyota dropped 4.5%, Honda lost 5.3% and Nissan fell
5.1%.
'Struggling what to buy'
The Nikkei 225 is down more than 20% from its peak
levels, reached last June.
"When the strong yen is a concern, you would buy
domestic-demand sensitive stocks like banks, but we
can't buy them now so we are really struggling what to
buy on a day like this," said Masashi Oda, senior
investment officer at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank.
Meanwhile, in Australia the ASX index was down 105.1
points, or 2.1%, at 4,917.0.
There was little trading elsewhere in Asia, with China's
mainland markets shut all week for Lunar New Year
celebrations. Hong Kong and South Korea are both closed
for three days.
Oil prices have been continuing their falls, with Brent crude
down another 2.7% at $33.13 a barrel.