Nikkei stock index briefly falls over 2% on Middle East concern

The Nikkei stock index briefly declined over 2 percent Friday morning as uncertainty over the prospect for talks on the Middle East conflict and crude oil price rises overnight prompted inflation concerns.At 10:02 a.m., the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average was down 958.03 points, or 1.79 percent, from Thursday to 52,645.62, after sliding more than 2 percent. The broader Topix index was down 40.0 points, or 1.10 percent, at 3,576.5.READ FULL ARTICLE