Nikkei 225 Falls Over 5%, Breaks Below 58,000 Intraday

A single-session drop of this size in Japan's benchmark is a risk-off signal that reaches well beyond Tokyo, since Japanese equities have been one of the more crowded developed-market trades. The move matters most for cross-asset sentiment, particularly for crypto and other risk assets that tend to track equity beta during sharp deleveraging episodes. Whether this proves a one-day air pocket or the start of a broader repricing is the open question, and the follow-through in Japanese equities is worth watching as a gauge of how much risk appetite has actually shifted.