Japan's benchmark stock indices ended the morning sharply lower, as a late post-BOJ sell-off sent the Nikkei 225 to close at the day's low. The Nikkei was down 452.78 points, or 5.01%, at 8576.98. The broader-based TOPIX was down 32.25 points at 867.12.
A bad month for Tokyo stocks, October 2008. Despite a near 25% rally off the intraday lows seen earlier this week, the Nikkei 225 ended the month down 24% - the biggest percentage monthly fall on.