Shares of Toyota Motor Corp. slumped 5% in the final minute of trade on Tuesday, following a drop in the overall Japanese stock market.
The market value of the Japanese automaker was reduced by roughly $11 billion as its stock price dropped by 4.8% at the closing bell, its largest drop in more than a year.
News of Japan’s curbs on chip-technology exports prompted profit taking, and the Nikkei 225 ended the day down 0.42% at 30,957, ending a seven-day winning run, while the Topix index ended the day down 0.7%, giving up an afternoon gain.
Bloomberg reports that 14.5 million Toyota shares were sold at a price of 1,857 yen per share at the closing.
Bloomberg Intelligence’s Tatsuo Yoshida said, “I’ve never seen such a sudden plunge in shares.” “There can be many possible causes for this, including fat finger or closing out of positions, but I can’t see any fundamental reasons to sell this many Toyota shares,” he added.