P.M. BRIEFING : Tokyo Stock Market Plunges to Its Third-Largest Daily Loss

Panic selling spurred by a strong U.S. dollar swept through the Tokyo Stock Exchange today, sending the major index tumbling to its third-largest daily loss, as individual and institutional investors dumped stocks across the board.

The blue-chip Nikkei Average of 225 selected issues, which fell 55.20 points Friday, plunged 1,353.20 points, or 4.15%, to 31,263.24--for its lowest closing level in more than a year.

The broader-based Tokyo Stock Exchange Price Index of all major listed shares fell 92.98 points to 2,326.23.

“Everyone has given up on the market,” said Hidetada Yoshida, general manager of the equity trading department of Kidder, Peabody.

Yoshida said Salomon Brothers Asia Ltd. had a large impact on the market, selling an estimated 70,000 shares of Nikkei Average stocks.

“This is more serious than Black Monday,” Yoshida said, “because the October, 1987, crash was due to Wall Street’s weakness, but Tokyo’s plunge is due to weak fundamentals.”