Oil plummets, Tokyo stock market posts worst loss since 1987. Fear grips markets

Japanese Stock Exchange:

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell about 13% today, due to heavy selling, sparked by fears that the US economy may be in worse shape than expected.

By 09:15 Moscow time, the Nikkei index had fallen 12.40% to 31,458.42 points, its worst loss since 1987.

The largest single-day drop in the Nikkei was a 3,836-point drop, or 14.9%, on a day called “Black Monday” in October 1987.

The Japanese stock market began its decline last Friday, after the Bank of Japan raised its benchmark interest rate last week.

The Japanese stock exchange was not the only one to decline in Asia, as the decline extended to other markets.

During trading, the Korean “KOSPI” index fell by 8.9% to 2,459 points, the main index of the Taiwanese market fell by 8.41% to 19,819 points, and the “ASX 200” index of shares in Australia fell by 3.48% to 7,666 points.

Chinese stocks also fell, with the Shanghai Composite Index down 1.29% to 2,867.88 points, the CSI 300 down 0.9% to 3,351.62 points, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index down 2.42% to 12,305.13 points.

In turn, Russian expert and analyst Alexander Nazarov warned that the collapse of the Japanese stock exchange could be the beginning of a collapse in all global markets. He said in a post on his Telegram channel today: “This is terrible… Well, it seems that Japan will be the first stone to start the avalanche.”

“It is not yet certain that this is the beginning of the final collapse of the global economy, but with the rate of decline as it is in Japan, this attempt has a good chance,” he continued.

Oil:

Brent crude futures traded below $76 a barrel for the first time since January 9 amid fears of a decline in demand for black gold.

By 09:10 Moscow time, Brent futures fell 1.33% to $75.79 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 1.47% to $72.44 per barrel.

The price decline came despite the dollar’s decline in the markets, as the US currency index, which measures its value against a basket of major currencies, fell by 0.31% to 102.8910 points.

Bitcoin currency:

Cryptocurrency markets witnessed a sharp decline on Monday, with market value falling, which is an indication of increasing selling pressure from investors in light of global economic and geopolitical risks.

Bitcoin, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, fell 16.33% to $51,208.11, according to data from CoinDesk.

US stock indexes fell last Friday amid fears of a US economic recession.

At the end of last week’s trading, the Dow Jones fell by 1.5% and closed at 39,737 points, ending a series of gains that had lasted for several weeks.

The S&P 500 fell 1.85% to 5,346.56 points, while the Nasdaq fell 2.43% to 16,776 points.

Source: RT + AP + Bloomberg