Asian stocks started lower Monday as the fallout from Friday’s plunge in Turkish asset prices made its way across the Pacific. European and U.S. stocks fell to end the week as worries built that Turkey’s troubles could prove contagious.
The Turkish lira USDTRY, +8.1649% put in fresh lows against the U.S. dollar early Monday, down more than 8% in Asian trading hours, after dropping 14% on Friday.
Read: Turkish lira hits fresh low as Erdogan’s currency crisis echoes through stock markets
The Nikkei NIK, -1.60% was down 1.6% to lead the early declines, with the yen USDJPY, -0.56% up as much as 0.5% against other major currencies. Exporter stocks were particularly hard hit, with Toyota 7203, -1.60% and Canon 7751, -2.06% each down more than 1.5%.
Chinese stocks fell more than 1% in early trading. Property stocks pulled back after banks denied a mortgage-rates cut, and construction and metal names were muted. The Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, -1.69% fell 1.6% while the Shenzhen Composite 399106, -1.33% was off 1.2%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, -1.71% tumbled 1.7%, with steep declines across all sectors. Tencent 0700, -2.11% fell 2.4% while China Construction Bank 0939, -1.71% dropped 1.5%
Korea’s Kospi SEU, -1.44% was off 1.4%, with big caps including Samsung 005930, -1.21% and Posco 005490, -3.35% falling at least 1%. In New Zealand, where trading ended Friday just as the lira’s drop was beginning, the NZX 50 NZ50GR, -0.36% was off 0.4% to reverse some of its end-of-week strength. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 XJO, -0.51% was down 0.5% with losses held in check by the Aussie dollar’s weakness.
Benchmarks in Taiwan Y9999, -1.92% , Singapore STI, -1.20% and Malaysia FBMKLCI, -0.96% were all off more than 1%.
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