Japan plunges 7% as Bernanke rattles global markets

Japan's Nikkei 225 index has closed down 7.3% as comments from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke over a potential scaling back of quantitative easing spooked investors worldwide.

The Nikkei shed over 1,100 points to close at 14,483, with Japanese 10-year government bond yields rising to over 1% for the first time in a year, as weak manufacturing data in China compounded concerns. The fall is the largest seen since the aftermath of the country's March 2011 earthquake. The Nikkei remains up almost 40% this year, but today's plunge represents a blow to the increasing number of investors backing the country's 'Abenomics' programme to revitalise its economy. That followed an earlier 0.8% fall in the S&P 500, prompted by Bernanke's comments at a Congressional hea...