REPORT: Nomura is cutting up to 1,000 jobs and closing its European stocks business

Tough times for investment bankers are getting tougher.

Nomura, one of the largest Japanese banks, is set to slash hundreds of jobs as it shuts down its European equities business, which includes sales, research, trading and underwriting, according to Bloomberg News.

Bloomberg said as many as 1,000 jobs are at risk in Europe and the US. Meanwhile, Reuters are reporting between 500 and 600 jobs will go. Either way, these are deep cuts.

A Nomura spokeswoman didn't immediately return a voicemail seeking comment.

Bloomberg and Reuters both say the cuts are a response to Nomura's struggle to stay profitable outside of its home market. Shares in Nomura, which bought the European and Asian units of Lehman Brothers after its collapse, spiked up on the news:

It's not the first time Nomura has taken an axe to its non-Japan business.

Last month, Bloomberg's Kiel Porter, Hugh Son, and Takahiko Hyuga reported that the firm would lay off about 20% of its staff in North America,

Equities divisions in investment banks have been hit hard by disappointing global economic growth. Banking revenues are down in large part because of a weak initial public offering market.

Credit Suisse last month announced that it was laying off 2,000 people in addition to the 4,000 jobs it had already planned to cut as part of a major reorganization.