Overview

• The Nikkei 225 dropped more than 600 points at one stage and was down 528.63 points at 42,279.19 at 10 a.m. in Tokyo, while the TOPIX fell 36.79 to 3,068.70.
• The slide coincided with media reports that President Trump would remove a Federal Reserve board member, a headline that aligned with a firmer yen and risk-off selling.
• Export-focused stocks, notably automakers, led declines as yen appreciation threatened to reduce overseas earnings when converted into yen.
• The yen traded in the low ¥147 per dollar range on Aug. 25 as investors priced a narrower U.S.–Japan rate gap after Jerome Powell suggested possible future Fed rate cuts.
• BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda said wages continue to face upward pressure, bolstering expectations of additional tightening, while U.S. shares earlier pulled back with the Dow down 349.27 points and the Nasdaq off 47.24 on profit-taking.