Photo/Illutration Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato rings the bell on Jan. 6 at the Tokyo Stock Exchange to kick off the year’s first trading session. (Ikuro Aiba)

The Tokyo Stock Exchange opened for the first trading day of the new year on Jan. 6 with the Nikkei 225 index plummeting by more than 600 points at one point.

The benchmark index ended the day at 39,307.05, down 587.49 points, or 1.47 percent, from the close on Dec. 30.

“The Japanese stock market is lacking direction at the start of the year as the U.S. market was relatively calm over the New Year's holidays,” said a trader from a leading securities firm.

At a ceremony held before the opening bell, Hiromi Yamaji, CEO of Japan Exchange Group Inc., highlighted Japan’s growing shift from savings to investment during the first year of the new NISA initiative, also known as the Nippon Individual Savings Account.

“We will continue to provide support to make the Japanese market more attractive,” Yamaji said.

In January last year, the government updated the tax exemption program for small investments, expanding it to accommodate larger sums and making it permanent.

Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato also attended the ceremony.

“This year, we must make every effort to restore public trust in financial officials and the markets,” said Kato.

Kato’s comment follows the indictments last month of a former judge and former employee of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in two separate cases of insider trading.

The former judge is accused of abusing takeover bid information for personal gain, which he acquired during his temporary assignment to the Financial Services Agency.

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