Tokyo - XINHUA
Tokyo shares ended the morning session Monday sharply lower as a sell-off in emerging market currencies prompted investors to flee risk assets. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average tumbled 382.52 points, or 2. 49 percent, from Friday to end at 15,009.04 in the morning session, after slipping to 14,933.55, the first time since mid-November below the 15,000 threshold. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was down 32.62 points, or 2.58 percent, at 1, 231.98. All of the 33 sector indexes fell, led by insurance, steel and shipping shares.