Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock index plunged more than 12% on Aug. 5 as investors worried that the U.S. economy may be in worse shape than had been expected and dumped a wide range of shares.

The Nikkei index fell 4,451.28 points to 31,458.42. It dropped 5.8% on Aug. 2 and has now logged its worst two-day decline ever, dropping 18.2% in the last two trading sessions.

At its lowest, th