Nikkei falls

Japanese stock benchmark Nikkei dropped on Tuesday on growing fears that Tokyo could go into its first-ever lockdown as the global coronavirus crisis showed no signs of abating.
The Nikkei average fell 0.9% to 18,917.01, well below 19,500, the average cost of the Bank of Japan's massive stock purchase since 2013.
The index was down 10.5% for the month, its biggest monthly decline since May 2010, and down 20.0% year-to-date, its worst quarter since late 2008.
The Nikkei's volatility index, a measure of investors' volatility expectations based on option pricing and considered to be a fear gauge, slid 11.4% to 49.41, moving away from a nine-year peak of 60.86, hit on March 16.
The broader Topix declined 2.3% to 1,403.04, with all but two of the 33 sector sub-indexes on the Tokyo Stock Exchange finishing in negative territory.
Among bluechip stocks, Toyota Motor Co Ltd lost 4.4%, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc shed 5.4%, and NTT Docomo Inc fell 2.8%.