Nikkei plunges 2.12% on Japan's gloomy economic data

Nikkei plunged on Monday as sentiment was dented by the weaker-than-expected outcomes of the Bank of Japan's Tankan business survey for March. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average lost 262.89 points, or 2.12 percent, from Friday to 12,135.02, the lowest closing level in about three weeks. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange plunged 34.14 points, or 3.30 percent, to 1, 000.57. All 33 sectors declined, led by land and sea transport companies as well as securities. The turnover was about 2,011.0 billion yen (about 21.41 billion U.S. dollars).