Markets in Asia dropped sharply on Friday, with Tokyo’s Nikkei tumbling, after a selloff on Wall Street as oil remained volatile and concerns about how central banks' easing measures will affect banks' earnings persisted.
The Nikkei 225 returned from a one-day holiday to plummet 760.78 points, or 4.8%, to 14,952.61, falling for seven of the past eight sessions to its lowest close since October 2014.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell 226.22 points, or 3.9%, to 18,319.58
Mainland Chinese markets and Taiwan remained closed for the week.
The Nikkei 225 has been on a downward spiral in recent days, as the yen rapidly strengthened against the dollar, with the index ending down more than 11% for the week.
During Asian trade, the U.S. dollar-yen pair was at 112.50, compared with levels over 120 at the beginning of the month. The yen has risen sharply since the Bank of Japan's move to a negative interest rate policy. A strong yen is a negative for export stocks as it dampens their overseas profits when converted into local currency.
Among Japanese exporters, Toyota, thundered lower 6.8%, while Nissan lost 5.8%, and Sharp dropped 10.32%.
Asia's banks and financial stocks remained under pressure, following drops in their Europe and the U.S. counterparts as concerns mounted over their potential performance in a low-growth and low-interest rate environment.
The so-called Big Four banks Down Under - ANZ, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac, and NAB - closed down as much as 2.5%.
Japanese banks saw steep losses, with Mitsubishi UFJ down 2.2%, SMFG lower by 4.1%, Mizuho Financial shedding 3.7% and Nomura falling 9.2%.
South Korean brokerages were down, as Samsung Securities fell 3.5%, while Daewoo Securities regressed 3.2%.
Energy plays were mixed, with shares of Santos rising 3.6% and Woodside slipping 0.3%, while Japan's Inpex fell 6.4% and Japan Petroleum slid 3.9%.
Hong Kong-listed shares of CNOOC, Petrochina and Sinopec closed up as much 0.7%
In other markets;
In Korea, the Kospi index gave back 26.26 points, or 1.4%, to 1,861.54
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index poked 1.67 points, or 0.1%, to 2,539.95
The NZX 50 in New Zealand subtracted 53.06 points, or 0.9%, to 5,933.96.
In Australia, the ASX 200 dropped 55.73 points, or 1.2%, to 4,765.35
