Japan’s Nikkei drops 5% to an 8-month low, Topix clocks worst day in 8 years as Asia markets fall

Japan’s benchmark indexes nosedived on Friday, with most Asia-Pacific markets lower after a sell-off on Wall Street overnight on recession worries.

The Nikkei 225 tumbled 5.81% to end at 35,909.7, marking its worst day since March 2020, according to Factset data, and dropping below 36,000 mark for the first time since January.

The broader Topix saw a larger loss of 6.14%, marking its worst day in eight years and closing at 2,537.6.

The largest loser on the Nikkei was Daiwa Securities, which saw an 18.85% wipeout of its market cap.

Other heavyweight stocks that fell include Softbank Group, which tumbled over 8%, while trading houses Mitsui and Marubeni saw losses of over 10% and 8%, respectively.

Japanese government bond yields fell, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year JGB falling below the 1% mark and hitting its lowest level since June 17.

South Korea’s Kospi tumbled 3.65% to 2,676.19, seeing its worst day since August 2020 and dragged mostly by banking stocks, while the small-cap Kosdaq plunged 4.20% and reached its lowest level since November 2023.

K-pop stocks were initially a bright spot in the South Korean market, but some eventually succumbed to the sell-off, with only SM Entertainment and Hybe in positive territory after Hybe announced its new business strategy on Thursday after market hours.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 2.11% to close at 7,943.2, having its worst day since March 2023 and retreating from its all-time high on Thursday.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was 2.32% lower as of its final hour, while mainland China’s CSI 300 posted the smallest loss in Asia, dropping 1.02% to close at 3.384.39

Separately, South Korea’s inflation numbers for July came in slightly higher than expected, with the country’s consumer price index climbing 2.6% year on year, compared to the 2.5% expected by economists polled by Reuters.

The gloomy sentiment in Asia markets comes after a sell-off on Wall Street in Thursday’s trading session, which saw all three major U.S. indexes plunge on recession fears.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.21%, while the S&P 500 shed 1.37% and the tech heavy Nasdaq Composite slipped 2.3%.

The Russell 2000 index, the small-cap benchmark that has rallied lately, dropped 3%.

In the U.S., fresh data stoked fears over a possible recession and apprehensions that the Federal Reserve could be too late in cutting interest rates.

Initial jobless claims rose the most since August 2023. The ISM manufacturing index, a barometer of factory activity in the U.S., came in at 46.8%, worse than expected and signaling economic contraction.

After these data, the 10-year Treasury yield dropped below 4% for the first time since February.

—CNBC’s Pia Singh and Samantha Subin contributed to this report.