Bank of Japan: benchmark Nikkei slid to a 3 year low

The Japanese unit of Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy protection today, with debts totaling ¥3.43tn. Japan hasn’t seen a bankruptcy like this since the end of the Second World War.

In an attempt to limit the fallout from the Lehman Brothers collapse the Bank of Japan injected ¥2.5 trillion (£13.5bn) into the markets.

Despite the Bank of Japans cash injection the benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average sinking 4.95%, or 605.04 points, to close at 11,609, Japans lowest level since July 2005. As confidence was rocked in the US currency the yen rose quickly against the dollar to the 104-level, from around ¥107 to the dollar at the end of last week.

According to the US bank’s bankruptcy filing, Lehman Brothers owes seven Japanese banks $1.62 billion in outstanding loans.

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