Tokyo Stock Market Crashes! Trading Suspended.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOKYO (Reuters) - A stampede of sell orders forced the shut-down of the world's second-biggest stock exchange on Wednesday as investors fled the Tokyo market, spooked by fall-out from an investigation into Internet company Livedoor
The Tokyo Stock Exchange, where shares were down more than 4 percent at one point, suspended trading 20 minutes before the normal closing time after the number of trades threatened to exceed its computer system's capacity of 4.5 million per day.
It the first time that the exchange was forced to halt trading as a result of capacity constraints since it opened its doors in its current incarnation in 1949.
Livedoor, a favorite of small investors, was raided by prosecutors on Monday. The firm is suspected of fudging financial reports and spreading false information to boost its share price.
News of the raid extended a sell-off that has wiped out more than $300 billion in shareholder value -- about equal to the gross domestic product of Sweden -- in just three days. "The current situation is totally unexpected. My guess is that Livedoor's investigation news spooked individual investors and prompted them to sell broad-based stocks," Tokyo Stock Exchange President Taizo Nishimuro told a news conference.