Asian stock markets are all falling sharply across the region in response to the correction on Wall Street overnight as bond markets go haywire as well. Currency markets are looking through the bond volatility with the Australian dollar holding at its recent lows just below the 66 cent level while oil prices remain under pressure with Brent crude about to crack below the $81USD per barrel level. Meanwhile gold has retraced slightly from its overnight bounce to be just below the $1830USD per ounce level:
Mainland Chinese share markets sold off from the get go and are still falling going into the close with the Shanghai Composite off by more than 1% to extend below the 3300 point barrier at 3240 points while the Hang Seng is losing more ground, down over 2% to 19419 points. Japanese stock markets are finally playing catch up to the risk off mood with the Nikkei 225 taking back most of the week’s gains to close 1.5% lower at 28168 points while the USDJPY pair has rallied despite no change from the BOJ at its meeting today, currently just above the mid 136 level:
Australian stocks had some of the biggest losses with the ASX200 closing more than 2.2% lower to crush below the 7300 point level at 7144 points. The Australian dollar is holding surprisingly steady in afternoon trade but is still well under the pump here at just below the 66 cent level:
The full text of this article is available to MacroBusiness subscribers