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(Bloomberg) — Japanese stocks plunged for a second day, putting the Topix index on course for its lowest close in 15 months, as the yen continued to strengthen amid an investor rush to the safety of haven assets.

The Topix index sank 2.6 percent to 1,270.07 at the lunch break in Tokyo, heading for the biggest two-day loss in more than five months and lowest close since October 2014. Volume on the measure was almost 50 percent higher than the 30-day intraday average. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 2.4 percent to 15,699.85. The yen traded at 114.70 per dollar, near the strongest since November 2014. Shares in the U.S. fluctuated as investors await congressional testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen ahead of a holiday on Thursday in Japan.

“Japanese stocks are suffering from a triple punch and it’s difficult to bounce back,” Tomoichiro Kubota, a senior analyst at Matsui Securities Co. in Tokyo, said by phone. “We have worries over financial institutions in Europe, problems in the bond market, and concerns aren’t alleviated at all. There’s still a sense of wariness toward commodity-related corporate earnings in the U.S., so that’s a negative, plus the yen is being favored as a place of refuge.”

With investors still reeling from the yen’s surge and the Topix’s 5.5 percent plunge on Tuesday, the focus will be on Yellen as she testifies before the U.S. Congress on Wednesday. Markets will be parsing her commentary for clues on further U.S. rate increases amid concerns over the creditworthiness of European banks, oil’s decline and the strength of the global economy.

Wednesday’s plunge sent both the Topix and Nikkei 225 below levels reached in January, which to Kubota indicates it is “highly likely we’ll keep falling.”

E-mini futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 0.3 percent after the underlying equity gauge fell 0.1 percent on Tuesday, paring earlier losses as speculation that Deutsche Bank AG is considering buying back billions of its bonds fueled an afternoon rebound in equities.

Share Buyback

Information and communication shares led losses among the 33 Topix industry groups, all of which fell. KDDI Corp. sank 8.7 percent after reporting third-quarter earnings and saying its biggest shareholder Kyocera Corp. announced it would sell a part of its stake back to the mobile carrier. Credit Suisse Group AG called the move a surprise, but said Kyocera is unlikely to sell more. Kyocera, which is building the world’s largest floating solar-power plant, gained 1 percent.

Banks continued falling, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. dropping 4 percent following yesterday’s 8.7 percent plunge. Shares have lost $30 billion in value since the start of the year as the Bank of Japan’s introduction of negative interest rates squeezes profitability at the lender.

Bandai Namco Holdings Inc. plummeted 16 percent after lowering its operating-profit outlook as struggling sales of arcade games caused it to write off some assets. Shimadzu Corp. jumped 3.8 percent after nine-month profit jumped 51 percent at the maker of analytical and measuring tools.

To contact the reporters on this story: Yuji Nakamura in Tokyo at ynakamura56@bloomberg.net; Yuko Takeo in Tokyo at ytakeo2@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sarah McDonald at smcdonald23@bloomberg.net John McCluskey, Tom Redmond