Japan’s Nikkei 225 briefly plunges 4%, leading losses across major markets in Asia

Shares in Asia-Pacific dropped on Monday, as Japan’s markets plummeted. Meanwhile, China kept its benchmark lending rate unchanged. Japanese stocks led losses regionally, with the Nikkei 225 falling 4% in Monday trade. It later pared some of those losses but still closed 3.29% lower at 28,010.93. The Topix index shed 2.42% to finish its trading day at 1,899.45.

Losses were seen in most sectors in Japan, with shares of automakers such as Nissan and Honda falling 4.07% and 3.93%, respectively. Shares of Fanuc slumped 5.62%. Among financials, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group shares fell 2.72% and Mizuho Financial Group declined 2.25%. Elsewhere in Asia-Pacific, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 1.28%, as of its final hour of trading. Mainland Chinese stocks closed higher as the Shanghai composite rose 0.12% to 3,529.18 and the Shenzhen component edged 0.395% higher to 14,641.29.

South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.83% on the day to 3,240.79. Shares in Australia slipped, with the S&P/ASX 200 shedding 1.81% to close at 7,235.30. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.29%. Last week, the U.S. Federal Reserve raised its expectations for inflation and moved forward the timeline of its interest rate hikes, setting off a surge in the dollar index against a basket of its peers. The U.S. dollar index was at 92.151 after a recent climb from levels below 91.2. The Japanese yen traded at 109.88 per dollar, stronger than levels above 110.5 against the greenback seen last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.749, still struggling to recover after its fall last week from above $0.768. Oil prices were higher in the afternoon of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures up 0.19% to $73.65 per barrel. U.S. crude futures advanced 0.25% to $71.82 per barrel.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 briefly plunges 4%, leading losses across major markets in Asia, CNBC, Jun 21