Stocks in Asia Pacific fell on Thursday as fears over the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic continued to weigh on investor sentiment.
The Nikkei 225 lost 173.72 points, or 1%, to 16,552.83, with index heavyweight and conglomerate Softbank Group plummeting 17.2% ?— its biggest one-day fall.
The Japanese yen traded at 108.73 per U.S. dollar after seeing levels below 106 earlier in the week.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index dropped 582.69 points, or 2.6%, to 21,709.13
Major markets in the region fell deep into negative territory, with South Korea’s Kospi leading losses as it sharply. The Korea Exchange said earlier during the session that circuit breakers were triggered after the Kospi dropped 8%, with trading halted for 20 minutes.
In Australia, stocks dropped abruptly after earlier jumping more than 2%. Jobs data released Thursday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for February at 5.1%.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announced Thursday a "comprehensive package," including a reduction in the cash rate target to 0.25%, to support the country’s economy as it grapples with the impact of the virus.
The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.572 after declining from levels above $0.6 earlier in the week.
So far, at least 207,860 have been infected while at least 8,657 lives have been taken by the disease globally, according to the latest data from the World Health Organization.
In other markets
The CSI 300 dropped 47.17 points, or 1.3%, to 3,589.09.
In Korea, the Kospi index subtracted 133.56 points, or 8.4%, to 1,457.64
In Taiwan, the Taiex dumped 537.33 points, or 5.8%, to 8,681.34
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index demurred 114.62 points, or 4.7%, to 2,311
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 lost 340.36 points, or 3.6%, to 9,114.53
In Australia, the ASX 200 deleted 170.26 points, or 3.4%, to 4,782.94
