Japanese stocks fall after China releases soft trade data

Sep 11, 2015 Japanese stocks recently took a dip, taking the benchmark Nikkei index into negative territory. This occurred after soft trade data out of China evoked concerns over the economic health of the Asian giant.

Defensive shares such as drug makers and food companies were battered; a sharp reversal of their spectacular outperformance earlier this year.

The Nikkei shares lost 2.4 percent on average to close at 17,427.08, tipping it into negative territory following a 15.9 percent fall in the last 30 days.

The broader Topix fell by 2 percent to close at 1,416.71, weighed down by its pharmaceutical sub-index which lost 5.2 percent.