Japanese stocks fell by 2.3%

Nikkei fell by the most in a month overnight and the yen strengthened after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe moved to delay a sales-tax hike for more than two years. There are also concerns that the postponement could lead to a credit rating downgrade, increasing the cost of foreign funding and further raising doubts over the sustainability of the nation's public debt - which currently exceeds 200% of its GDP. Nikkei -2.3%.