In This Article:
* Nikkei poised to post biggest 1-day drop since March
* Yaskawa Electric drags down other industrial equipment makers
* Nikkei has fallen 7.7 pct from last week's 27-year peak
* Mnuchin's China comments to FT also dents sentiment - analysts
By Ayai Tomisawa
TOKYO, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei tumbled to a one-month low on Thursday morning in line with a global sell-off following plunges overnight in New York.
Contributing to Japan's fall was a profit forecast cut by industrial equipment maker Yaskawa Electric, which dragged down shares of firms with large exposure to China.
On Wednesday, Wall Street posted its biggest daily declines in eight months, after European shares had their worst day since June as concerns around rising debt yields gripped equity markets world-wide.
The Nikkei share average fall as much as 4.2 percent to 22,564.10, the lowest point since Sept. 12. At the midday break, it was down 3.9 percent to 22,591.10.
The benchmark index has fallen 7.7 percent from a 27-year high of 24,448.07 hit last week.
"The market is facing a correction as investors are fleeing from risky assets on the back of a macro factor, which is rising U.S. yields," said Shusuke Yamada, chief Japan FX/equity strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Also hurting the mood was U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's comments to the Financial Times warning China not to engage in competitive devaluations of the yuan as the two countries spar over their economic relations and engage in an escalating trade war. [https://www.ft.com/content/cd325c24-cc32-11e8-b276-b9069bde0956 ]
Mnuchin said the Treasury was monitoring currency issues "very carefully" and noted that the Chinese currency had fallen "significantly" during the year, adding that he wanted to discuss it with Beijing as part of trade talks.
The comments are "stoking fears that the Sino-U.S. trade war can deepen and drag on longer than expected," said Norihiro Fujito, a chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.
While all of the Topix's 33 subsectors were in the red, China-related stocks underperformed.
Yaskawa Electric, which has large exposure to China, slashed its annual net profit forecast by 12.6 percent to reflect weak demand in motion controllers hit by falling capital expenditure as the Sino-U.S. trade dispute drags on.
The stock sank as much as 7.3 percent to hit a 10-month low of 2,980 yen. Shares of Fanuc Corp, Nabtesco Corp and Mitsubishi Electric Corp, slipped 6.8 percent, 7.4 percent and 6.2 percent, respectively.
Chip equipment makers lost ground on signs of slowing demand in the semiconductor industry, with Tokyo Electron sliding 4.7 percent, Advantest Corp tanking 5.3 percent and Screen Holdings declining 3.4 percent.