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