Horie: investigation triggered share blitz. Photograph: Itsuo Inouye/AP
Things are looking pretty dicey over on the Tokyo stock exchange, which had to close early last night thanks to immense amounts of trading. Why was so much share selling going on? Because of concerns about a fraud investigation at internet service provider Livedoor, which is run by maverick Japanese businessman Takafumi Horie.
The impact is spreading rapidly - as we report:
Trading in Tokyo was so heavy that the exchange closed 20 minutes early - its first-ever early closing. The Nikkei index has lost 6% over two days.
Japanese investors have grown increasingly jittery as a criminal investigation into allegations of fraud at Livedoor, an internet startup, has been widened. The investigation triggered a sell-off in technology shares.
Fears are apparently building about the combined effect that this and devaluing shares at Intel and Yahoo could have on the technology market. Sounds like an entirely different way to arrive at a dotcom bust, doesn't it?
Related: If you're interested in Horie, there's more on his political exploits in a piece from our Tokyo correspondent Justin McCurry dated last year. Or see Guardian Unlimited's archive of stories on Takafumi Horie
