Tokyo tumbles

Tokyo stocks were down 1.82 per cent on Wednesday morning after the yen soared on fading hopes for near-term monetary easing by the Bank of Japan, denting exporter shares. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index shed 266.44 points to 14,340.44 by the break, while the Topix index of all first-section shares lost 1.94 percent, or 22.76 points, to 1,151.80. In share trading, Takeda Pharmaceutical lost another 1.46 per cent to 4,505 yen, a day after the stock fell 5.16 per cent on news that a US jury had ordered the drugs giant to pay $6.0 billion in damages linked to health risks posed by its Actos diabetes medicine. Sumitomo Realty and Development was down 3.58 per cent to 4,037 yen, Canon fell 1.42 per cent to 3,124 yen and Sony shares lost 2.90 per cent to 1,904 yen, according to AFP.