Tokyo - Stocks in Tokyo ended Friday trading lower, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average plunging below the psychologically significant mark of 9,000 points for the first time in more than five years.

The key Nikkei index plunged 881.06 points, or 9.62 per cent, to close at 8,276.43.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues also dropped 64.25 points, or 7.09 per cent, to 840.86.

For the week, Nikkei fell 24.33 per cent, and the Topix also declined almost 20 per cent.

This was a reaction to US stocks plummeting again on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping below 9,000 points for the first time in five years, as a series of US and global efforts to tackle the financial crisis have failed to calm investors.

Both the blue-chip Dow and broader Standard & Poor's 500 tumbled more than 7 per cent. The Dow dropped 678.91 points, or 7.33 per cent, to 8,579.19. The S&P fell 75.02 points, or 7.62 per cent, to 909.92.

The Bank of Japan injected a record 4.5 trillion yen (44.8 billion dollars) into the money markets Friday amid escalating concerns over the financial crisis.

On currency markets at midday (0300 GMT), the dollar fell to 99.03-08 yen from Thursday's 5 pm quote of 101.16-18 yen.

The euro was quoted at 1.3587-92 dollars against Thursday's 5 pm quote of 1.3734-35 dollars, and at 134.60-65 yen, down from 138.94-98 yen. (dpa)