Japan’s Nikkei index touches bear market territory as global stock rout intensifies

Japan’s stock market plunged further on Monday as a global sell-off intensified following weak US jobs data.

The Nikkei 225 fell as much as 7.1% in early trade, pushing its losses to 21% since early July. The index is poised to enter bear market territory, which is defined as a 20% pullback from recent highs. It later pared its losses to 5.8%.

On Friday, the index closed down 5.8%, marking its biggest daily drop since March 2020, as traders fretted about the impact of a stronger yen on Japanese companies after the Bank of Japan signalled further rate hikes could be on the way.

Asian stocks tracked a sharp drop on Wall Street on Friday, where disappointing jobs data added to fears that the US economy is weakening. The Dow closed 1.5% lower, the S&P 500 lost 1.8% and the Nasdaq Composite declined 2.4%. The Nasdaq closed in correction territory, or more than 10% off its most recent high on July 10.

This is a developing story and will be updated.