Shares sink in Japan as a tech-driven retreat on Wall St drives selling of chip makers and exporters

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index has dropped nearly 6% after a broad retreat on Wall Street. The decline was the worst for Tokyo since the worst pandemic selloffs of 2020. The drop of more than 2,000 points left the index where it was in mid-January, erasing huge gains that had taken the Nikkei past the 40,000 level. The declines followed a retreat on Wall Street after weak data raised worries the Federal Reserve may have missed its window to cut interest rates before it undercut economic growth. Japanese shares have been pummeled after the Bank of Japan raised its benchmark interest rate. The yen jumped against the dollar, potentially hurting manufacturers’ earnings and deflating a tourism boom.