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| - Tokyo stocks fell more than one percent Thursday, with market heavyweight SoftBank Group nosediving for a second day and investors shrugging off massive central bank coronavirus-related interventions. After opening higher, the Nikkei 225 index ended down 1.03 percent, or 173.72 points, at 16,552.83 points, but the broader Topix index closed up 0.97 percent, or 12.38 points, at 1,283.22. SoftBank plunged 17.22 percent to 2,687 yen with worries about the liquidity of the heavily indebted company growing as global financial markets are roiled by fears over the economic consequences of the pandemic. SoftBank had already lost 18.89 percent in the previous session after S&P Global Ratings cut its outlook on the company to negative late Tuesday. "An offering of liquidity by the (European) authorities supported morning trade, but that was short-lived as people don't know where the exit is from fears over the coronavirus," Ryuta Otsuka, chief strategist at Toyo Securities, told AFP. Investor sentiment was also worsened by falls in other Asian markets, analysts said. The dollar fetched 108.78 yen in Asian trade, against 107.96 yen in New York late Wednesday. China-linked shares were sharply lower, with industrial robot maker Fanuc sinking 7.11 percent to 12,135 yen and parts maker Rohm ending down 3.64 percent at 5,280 yen. Sony sank 1.05 percent to 5,929 yen, Panasonic was off 1.57 percent at 700 yen and Honda fell 0.30 percent to 2,269 yen. kh/sah/dan
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