Asian Stocks markets fall more than 2% to cap week of market gyrations

Asian Stocks dropped on Friday as volatility continued to grip the markets amid investor concerns over the global coronavirus outbreak.

Japanese stocks were among the biggest losers regionally as the Nikkei 225 dropped 2.72% to close at 20,749.75, with shares of index heavyweight and conglomerate Softbank Group plunging 6.07%. The Topix index fell 2.92% to end its trading day at 1,471.46.
South Korea’s Kospi also shed 2.16% to close at 2,040.22.
The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong slipped more than 2%, as of its final hour of trading.
Mainland Chinese stocks edged lower in afternoon trade, with the Shanghai composite down 1.21% to about 3,034.51 and the Shenzhen component shedding 1.1% to 11,582.82.
The Shenzhen composite also slipped 0.74% to approximately 1,915.17.
Stocks in Australia also fell, with the S&P/ASX 200 dropping 2.81% to close at 6,216.20. Australia retail turnover in January fell 0.3% month-on-month on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the country’s Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 96.559 after declining from levels above 97.3 yesterday.
The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6615 after touching an earlier low of $0.6582.
The euro held steady at $1.1232.

U.S. crude fell 1.13% to $45.38 a barre.
Brent fell 1.12% to $49.43, with worries about a decline in global demand due to the virus outbreak and uncertainty about production cuts hurting prices.