"It would be hard to say [the Australian data] is the only reason ... but the market is looking for any bad news that can move it"
- Naomi Fink, Jefferies Japan head of Japan strategy
Australia's unexpected trade deficit amid Federal Reserve's decision to abandon additional monetary stimulus sent the Nikkei 225 index 2.29% or 230.4 points lower to 9,819.99, the sharpest daily drop since November 2011.
"Today the big question was whether the Nikkei would be able to hold above 10,000. Once the market fell below that level, investors started to sell. Negative signals on monetary easing also weighed on stocks." said Kenichi Hirano, general manager and strategist at Tachibana Securities Co. in Tokyo.
"This looks likely to continue until at least the middle of the month, when there'll be an options special quotation", said Hiroyuki Fukunaga, Investrust Chief Executive.
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