Japanese shares tumbled Monday with Takata hammered as the firm's agreement to plead guilty to fraud and pay $1 billion to settle a deadly airbag scandal still left unanswereed questions about its future Shares in Takata had soared more than 16 percent Friday ahead of an expected announcement in the United States that traders hoped would bring the curtain down on the affair.
But the volatile stock dropped 10.55 percent to 949 yen on Monday, hit by lingering concerns about the extent of Takata's future financial liabilities and as some investors cashed in profits.
At the close, Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei index fell 1.00 percent, or 192.04 points, to finish at 19,095.24, while the broader Topix index of all first-section issues was down 0.92 percent, or 14.25 points, at 1,530.64.
US officials said Friday that Takata, one of the world's biggest suppliers of auto safety equipment, had agreed to the settlement over the defect, which led to the recall of more than 100 million airbags globally.
The US also indicted three former Takata employees, bringing the first criminal charges in a scandal over exploding airbags that caused the auto industry's biggest safety recall.
The individuals, who left the company in 2015, were charged with fraud for hiding the flaws in the airbags, so far blamed for 16 deaths and 100 injuries world-wide.
The company has been ensnared since 2013 in a scandal over airbags blamed for exploding with deadly force, sending metal shards hurtling toward passengers.
Takata has been in talks with possible buyers who are evaluating its potential liabilities.
"The agreement is one of the steps forward but our concern is still big given the company hasn't shown when and how it would revive," Koji Endo, a Tokyo-based senior research fellow at SBI Securities, told Bloomberg News.
"The settlement fine and restitution fund for individuals and automakers look small compared to what actually happened. There still may be more cost burdens on this company."
The yen picked up and the pound tumbled in forex trading, driven by concerns that Britain may be headed for a clean break from the EU.
The pound dropped to $1.1986 shortly after 3:00am (1800 GMT Sunday) Tokyo time, hitting the lowest level since the October 2016 "flash crash" to $1.1841 and is now sitting at 32-year lows.
The currency recovered some ground to sit around $1.2030 in Tokyo afternoon trade, but was still down from $1.2197 late Friday.
The dollar slipped against Japan's currency, which is seen as a safe investment, to 113.94 yen from 114.53 yen in New York. A stronger yen in a negative for Japanese shares.
In Tokyo, Japan Post Holdings dropped 4.86 percent to 1,408 yen after the leading Nikkei business daily said the government was planning to sell more shares in the postal giant after a 2015 initial public offering. An additional 1.4 trillion yen of worth stock could be sold as early as this summer, the report said.
Nintendo fell 2.31 percent to 23,200 yen after it unveiled its highly anticipated new Switch game console on Friday.
Major automakers also fell, with Toyota down 0.79 percent at 6,827 yen and Honda slipping 0.02 percent to 3,445 yen. Nissan fell 0.60 percent to 1,153 yen.
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