Japan`s Nikkei stock index tumbled 6.53 percent by the close Thursday, hit by a stronger yen and heavy overnight losses on Wall Street sparked by fears of a deep US recession.

The benchmark ended down 622.10 points at 8,899.14.

The drop wiped out gains seen a day earlier on hopes that US president-elect Barack Obama will get to work on fixing the world`s largest economy in the face of the worst financial crisis in decades.

`Now that the event is over, investors are sobering up and looking at the economic gloom,` said Mizuho Investors Securities broker Masatoshi Sato.