TOKYO, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks lost substantial ground Friday with the key Nikkei index down 2.5 percent to close at a new low since July 22 as the ripples of Wall Street losses and the appreciation of the yen continued to spread to the market.

    The benchmark Nikkei 225 Average plunged 246.77 points to 9,731.87.

    The broader Topix index shed 21.45 points, or 2.39 percent, to 874.67.

    Led by insurance, nonferrous metals, and iron and steel issues, all the three industrial sectors on the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell.

    Among the exporters, Sony dived 130 yen, or about 5 percent, to2,450 yen, and Toyota Motor shed 130 yen, or almost 4 percent, to 3,380 yen. Panasonic and Honda Motor both fell over 3 percent.

    "The strong yen has continued for a while now and just wouldn't weaken," Yutaka Miura, a senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities Co., was quoted as saying.

    "In addition, the market got a bit nervous as U.S. stocks fell sharply yesterday and worried that U.S. jobs data due out later today would also fall short of expectations."

    On the First Section, declining shares outnumbered advancing ones 1,508 to 131.

    Value leader Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group was down 11 yen, or over 2 percent, to 445 yen while volume leader Mizuho Financial Group dipped 1 yen, or about half a percent, to 174 yen.

    Trading volume on the main section expanded to 2,193.33 million shares from 1,811.13 million Thursday.

    The TSE's Second Section index fell 34.84 points, or 1.58 percent, to 2,172.01 on a volume of 32.76 million shares.

    On the Osaka Securities Exchange, the near-term December Nikkei225 index futures contract tumbled 250 points to 9,730.