Tokyo stocks plunge in morning on U.S., Europe rate hike fears

Tokyo stocks plunged Friday morning, dragging the Nikkei index down by more than 2 percent, following sell-offs in international markets overnight on fears over the adverse impact of monetary tightening by U.S. and European central banks. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average fell 572.70 points, or 2.17 percent, from Thursday to 25,858.50. The broader Topix index was down 37.87 points, or 2.03 percent, at 1,829.94. On the top-tier Prime Market, decliners were led by iron and steel, mining and transportation equipment issues.