Major Asian Stock Markets Domino Downturn

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] On the 18th, stock markets across major Asian countries, including South Korea, closed sharply lower. This is attributed to the markets' inability to escape an extreme bearish phase due to the impact of COVID-19, coupled with increased caution as U.S. stock index futures experienced significant declines in after-hours trading.

On the day, the KOSPI index closed at 1591.20, down 4.86% (81.24 points). The KOSDAQ index also ended the session at 485.14, down 5.75% (29.59 points).

The Shanghai Composite Index in China was trading at 2748.63, down 1.12% (31.01 points) as of 3:33 PM.

The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index was trading at 22,367, down 3.85% (896.73 points).

The Taiwan Weighted Index closed at 9,218.67, down 2.34% (220.96 points).

Japan's Nikkei 225 index closed at 16,726.55, down 1.68% (284.98 points). The break below the 17,000 level occurred for the first time in 3 years and 4 months. This was influenced by the activation of the 'circuit breaker'?a temporary trading halt?triggered by a sharp decline in U.S. New York stock futures on the same day. The TOPIX index closed up 0.19% (2.38 points) at 1,270.84.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.