Asian stocks plummeted Thursday following the skid on Wall Street.
Japan’s Nikkei NIK, -3.89% fell 3.9% as stocks got added pressure from the yen’s overnight bounce. The dollar was just above ¥112, versus ¥112.36 in late New York trade and ¥113 Wednesday morning. Through Wednesday, the dollar had fallen five straight days versus the yen USDJPY, -0.03% and logged the biggest week-long drop since February, at 2%.
And with a late drop in Treasury yields during U.S. trade, 10-year JGB yields were down a basis point at 0.14% and 30-year bonds were down two basis points at 0.92%. Losses were widespread across all sectors, with SoftBank Group 9984, -5.83% down 5.8% and robotics company Fanuc 6954, -6.84% down 6.8%. Export-reliant companies such as Toyota 7203, -2.41% , Nintendo 7974, -3.13% and Sony 6758, -4.28% posted steep losses as well.
Chinese stocks were down more than 5%, putting mainland indexes at fresh multiyear lows, extending the woes which have made Chinese equities among the world’s worst performers this year. The Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP, -5.22% is now down nearly 22% for 2018.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng HSI, -3.54% slid 3.5% to close at a 15-month low, a day after snapping a six-session losing streak. Tech stocks took a beating, with Sunny Optical 2382, -6.18% , AAC Technologies 2018, -7.29% and Tencent 0700, -6.77% falling more than 5%. Automaker Geely 0175, -6.25% , casino operator Galaxy Entertainment 0027, -4.78% and oil company CNOOC 0883, -3.77% also plunged.
Taiwan stocks fared even worse, with the Taiex Y9999, -6.31% down 6.3%, putting it at its lowest levels since May 2017. Heavyweights were down across the board with tech stocks hurting the most, as lens maker Largan 3008, -9.89% fell 9% and capacitor maker Yageo 2327, -8.38% sank 8%.
Australia’s ASX 200 XJO, -2.74% dropped 2.7%, hitting levels last seen in late April and New Zealand’s NZX 50 NZ50GR, -3.64% logged its first nine-day losing streak since July 2011. Korea’s Kospi SEU, -4.44% was off 4.4%, with Samsung 005930, -4.86% down 4.8%. Singapore’s stock benchmark STI, -2.69% skidded to 20-month lows, off 2.7%.
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