Fears of a US recession and worries about the global economy caused Asian stock markets to crash on Monday. The Nikkei index in Tokyo suffered even bigger losses – in terms of points – than on the so-called Black Monday of 1987. The financial world is now looking excitedly to the US, where the stock markets open in a few hours.
According to the Financial Times, the Nikkei index suffered its biggest daily loss in points: 4,450 points. That is considerably more than the ‘Black Monday’ that took place on the US Securities Authority Wall Street in October 1987 – at that time there were 3,836 points.
In percentage points, the Nikkei’s losses of 14.9 percent were larger than Monday’s 12.4 percent, the Wall Street Journal reported. Trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange had to be suspended several times due to dramatic price drops.
Japan’s export-oriented Nikkei-225 fell as much as 12.40 percent to 31,458.42 points on concerns about the US economy. The appreciation of the local currency, the yen, possible interest rate hikes and the bleaker economic outlook for the US are undermining investor confidence in the Far East.
Significant losses on the Vienna Stock Exchange
The European stock exchanges also started Monday with some high losses. The Vienna stock exchange, which had already fallen considerably at the end of last week, started trading with considerable losses. The ATX was listed at minus 2.29 percent shortly before 10:00. Schoeller-Bleckmann, EVN and Wienerberger booked price losses of more than three percent.
At the major banks Raiffeisen, BAWAG and Erste Group, the levies amounted to more than two percent. Of the few winners, the shares of Immofinanz and CA Immo each rose by 0.7 percent in the ATX.
The price of Bitcoin is also falling
The cryptocurrency Bitcoin fell by about ten percent – to 47,300 euros. That means a loss of more than 10,000 euros since Friday and a loss of more than 20 percent.
The yen is at its highest level since the start of the year
After a month-long rally in Japan, the Nikkei 225 peaked at just over 42,400 points in mid-July. But then the local currency, the yen, soared sharply in a short space of time, putting severe pressure on the stock prices of export-dependent Japanese companies. Against the US dollar, for example, the yen rose to its highest level since the start of the year on Monday.
Chinese stock markets outperformed Japanese indices. The Hang Seng Index of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region recently fell 2.15 percent to 16,580.42 points. The Shanghai Composite fell 1.45 percent to 2,863.14 points. Both indices had already lost significantly in recent weeks. Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi rattled 8.77 percent to 2,441.57 points.
Waiting for the US
The German ‘Bild’ is already writing about a ‘stock market earthquake’ that is now sweeping the world. Whether the American stock exchanges will actually be hit, we will know from 15:30.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
