Traders in Tokyo braced for slaughter Tuesday, but while blood flowed at the opening bell, stocks reversed their course and survived the day as the walking wounded.
At one point in the morning the Nikkei 225 average was down more than 600 points. It recovered in the afternoon to close at 20,585.31, down a mere 134.98 points, or 0.65 percent. The Topix, which covers all first-section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, shed 6.65 points, or 0.44 percent, to end at 1499.23.
Stocks elsewhere in Asia similarly pared losses.