Collapse of Asian stock markets due to fears of recession, especially in the United States, which are weighing on global markets. In Tokyo the benchmark Nikkei 225 index slumped 12.4% (its worst decline ever) points and the broader Topix index lost 10.49% to 2,271.33, while in Taiwan the Taiex index it fell by 8.43% to 19,813.83 points around 1.19pm local time (07.19am in Italy).
Chip giant TSMC lost 9.52% and Seoul's Kospi slumped 8.09% to 2,459.81 points, with trading briefly suspended as a circuit breaker intended to temper volatility was tripped.
Chinese stock markets suffered more moderate losses, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng index down 1.8%, the Shanghai composite index down 1.1% and the Shenzhen composite index down 1.5%.
“There are simply too many fires to put out, making a possible recovery on Monday a pipe dream, especially with the resurgence of recession fears in the United States and the looming specter of a hard landing chilling global investors to the bone,” he commented Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management.
«The trigger? A report on American employment that missed the target to the point of leaving not only the returns of stocks and bonds speechless" on Wall Street, he adds.
Even before the particularly worrying employment data released in the United States on Friday, the Tokyo Stock Exchange had experienced a dark day, with the Nikkei recording its steepest point drop since 1987 and the second steepest in its history.
At the opening Milan also accelerates downwards: it reaches -4%, below 31 thousand points.
(Unioneonline)