The Nikkei 225 declined 5.81% to close at 35,909.7, marking its worst day since March 2020, and sliding below 36,000 mark for the first time since January
Japan’s benchmark indexes slumped on Friday, with most Asia-Pacific markets down after a sell-off on Wall Street overnight on recession concerns.
The Nikkei 225 declined 5.81% to close at 35,909.7, marking its worst day since March 2020, according to Factset data, and sliding below 36,000 mark for the first time since January.
The broader Topix saw a larger loss of 6.14%, marking its worst day in eight years and ending at 2,537.6.
The biggest loser on the Nikkei was Daiwa Securities, which saw an 18.85% wipeout of its market cap.
Other heavyweight stocks that declined include Softbank Group, which skidded more than 8%, while trading houses Mitsui and Marubeni saw losses of more than 10% and 8%, respectively.
Japanese government bond yields stumbled, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year JGB slipping below the 1% mark and reaching its lowest level since June 17.
South Korea’s Kospi dropped 3.65% to 2,676.19, seeing its worst day since August 2020 and dragged mostly by banking stocks, while the small-cap Kosdaq slumped 4.20% and hit its lowest level since November 2023.
K-pop stocks were initially a bright spot in the South Korean market, but some eventually gave in to the sell-off, with only SM Entertainment and Hybe in positive territory after Hybe announced its new business strategy on Thursday after market hours.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 2.11% to end at 7,943.2, having its worst day since March 2023 and pulling back from its all-time high hit on Thursday.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 2.32% as of its final hour, while mainland China’s CSI 300 posted the smallest loss in Asia, declining 1.02% to close at 3.384.39.
