Asian markets continued to lose ground Thursday morning in Asia as fears of a global recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic continue to grip markets.
Asian markets
- Japan’s Nikkei 225 could not hold on to a strong start to the morning session. The Japanese benchmark opened up 2.34%, but quickly gave up those gains and was down 0.78% by 10:04 PM ET (02:04 AM GMT).
- The Bank of Japan is expected to announce an interest rate decision later this morning, with analysts forecasting a 0.10% cut.
- In South Korea, the KOSPI was down 5.2%.
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dived 4.18% as markets opened but cut those losses somewhat and was down 2.62%.
- China’s Shanghai Composite was down 0.94% and the SZSE Component was down 0.29%.
Oil Prices
- Oil steadied after an overnight rout, with Brent crude settling at $24.88.
Currency Markets
- In currency markets, the dollar is king and jumped to a three-year high overnight amid a rush for the world’s reserve currency in times of crisis.
Gold Price
- Gold futures rose 0.6% to $1,486.45/oz.
