Topix Bear Turns Clock Back to 1983 as Japan Stocks Slide

Japan’s Topix Index entered a bear market, with stocks plunging to a level not seen since 1983 as Europe’s debt crisis spurs a global flight from risk assets, driving up the yen and threatening exports.

The country’s broadest equities gauge slumped 1.9 percent to 695.51 yesterday, the lowest close since Dec. 13, 1983, amid concern the crisis will derail the global economy as Japan struggles with the legacy of last year’s natural and nuclear disasters. The index has lost more than 20 percent from this year’s high on March 27, meeting the definition of a bear market. Sony Corp. fell below 1,000 yen for the first time since 1980, when it introduced its iconic Walkman in the U.S.