Shares sink in Japan following tech-driven retreat on Wall Street

An electronic stock board shows that Nikkei stock average dropped over 1,900 Japanese yen from previous day, in Tokyo (Kyodo News via AP)

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index sank 5.8% on Friday in what some reports said was the worst single-day loss since Black Monday of 1987.

The drop of more than 2,000 points to its close at 35,909.70 left the index near where it was in January, erasing huge gains that had taken the Nikkei index past the 40,000 level as enthusiasm for artificial intelligence drove shares in computer chipmakers and other related companies sharply higher.