Asian stocks, on Friday plummeted, with Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average briefly falling 10 per cent, following sharp plunges in U.S. and European markets, while Australian stocks bounced back strongly after days of major losses.
The Nikkei lost 1,128.58 points, or 6.08 per cent, to close at 17,431.05. The index had briefly fallen 10.07 per cent earlier.
The Nikkei also dipped below 17,000 points for the first time since Nov. 2016.
The broader Topix index was down 66.18 points, or 4.98 per cent, to end at 1,261.7.
Meanwhile, Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 dropped 8.1 per cent in the earlier to below 5,000 for the first time since 2016, before rising 234.7 points, or 4.4 per cent, to 5,539.3.
This was after Prime Minister Scott Morrison, announced that his administration would advise against mass gatherings from Monday.
Meanwhile, the broader All Ordinaries index closed up 219.8, or 4.09 per cent, to 5,590.7.
South Korea’s Kospi Index dropped 3.43 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.23 per cent.
Earlier, U.S. stocks suffered the worst single-day percentage drop since the Oct. 1987 crash, while exchanges in Europe saw double digit declines.
The S&P 500 lost 9.51 per cent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average tanked 9.99 per cent, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq took a 9.43-per-cent dive.
The heavy losses followed Wednesday’s WHO assessment that the Covid-19 outbreak has turned into a global pandemic.
They also came after U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of the U.S. entry ban for travellers from the European Schengen zone, in an effort to stem the spread of the new coronavirus.
