Nikkei closes with largest point drop in history, down 12%

The Nikkei stock index closed with its largest single-day point drop in history on Monday, tumbling over 4,400 points and 12 percent, in a global market crash amid a firming yen and escalating fears of a U.S. recession triggered by disappointing economic data.The U.S. dollar plunged briefly by nearly 5 yen from late last week to a fresh seven-month low of 141.69 amid growing speculation that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates significantly in September. It later returned to the mid-143 yen level on buybacks.The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average ended down 4,451.28 points, or 12.40 per…READ FULL ARTICLE