On Monday, August 5, Japanese stocks suffered their largest daily losses in history due to fears of a slowdown in US economic growth.
This was reported by CNN and Reuters.
Japan’s Nikkei stock index, which includes shares of 225 of the country’s largest companies, lost 4,451 points, the largest drop in history. The index closed down 12.4%, bringing its losses since the beginning of July to 25%.
Analysts compare this to Black Monday, when global markets plunged in October 1987, and the Nikkei lost 3,836 points.
Investors fear that the United States may be facing a recession, and the Federal Reserve will begin to cut rates rapidly to support the economy.
As the Bank of Japan raises interest rates to curb inflation, it increases the value of the yen against the US dollar and makes Japanese stocks that depend on exports less attractive.
Other major stock indices in the Asia-Pacific region are also falling: the Shanghai Composite lost 1.3%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index – 2.3%, Korea’s KOSPI – 8.8%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 – 3.7%, and Taiwan’s Taiex – 8.4%.
Cryptocurrencies have also been affected by this decline. The value of bitcoin dropped from $60,000 on Sunday to about $49,500 on Monday morning. As of 13:00, bitcoin rose to $51,700.
Shares of large American companies continue to fall. NVIDIA and Alphabet lost 11% each, Apple, Meta, Tesla, and Amazon – 10% each, and Microsoft – 9%.
