Nikkei Futures Plunge in Chicago

Nikkei 225 September futures trading in Chicago on the Mercantile Exchange lost 525 points Thursday to 17,270 (-2.95%). They traded as low as 17,055 (-4.15%) intra-day. Bad weather in Chicago didn’t help. We won’t make any “bears” jokes. Anyway, there is certainly more volatility these days in the U.S./Japan and Japanese stocks are particularly vulnerable with parliamentary elections this Sunday. PM Shinzo Abe is in for a long weekend and renewed, unwelcome political uncertainty may linger beyond, clouding the equities market. Recent yen strength will not help either.