Asian equity markets fell sharply on Monday, extending a broad global sell‑off triggered by weaker-than‑expected U.S. jobs data and disappointing manufacturing reports, raising concerns that the world’s largest economy may be slipping into recession after the Federal Reserve delayed further rate cuts. Markets in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan each declined more than 5%.
The unemployment rate rose to its highest level since October 2021, when it reached 4.5%.
Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index slipped almost 3% on Monday, continuing the sharp drop from the previous session after Wall Street’s negative cues on Friday. The index fell around 209 points to just above 7,700, with broad weakness across energy, financial and technology sectors.
The S&P/ASX 200 index lost 209.70 points (2.64%) to 7,733.50, after touching a low of 7,695.20 earlier, while the All Ordinaries index fell 220.80 points (2.70%) to 7,949.60. Australian equities closed sharply lower on Friday.
Major miners posted declines, with Rio Tinto and Mineral Resources falling over 1%, and BHP Group and Fortescue Metals slipping more than 2%. Energy stocks also weakened, as Beach Energy and Santos each dropped nearly 4%, Woodside Energy fell 2.5%, and Origin Energy slipped almost 3%.
Tech stocks were sharply lower, with Appen, Xero and WiseTech Global each down nearly 5%; Block, owner of Afterpay, plunged more than 9%; and Zip fell almost 9%.
Gold miners mostly slipped, with Newmont and Evolution Mining down about 4%, Resolute Mining down nearly 7%, Northern Star Resources down roughly 3%, and Gold Road Resources slipping over 3%.
The big four banks all fell, with Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and ANZ each down more than 3%, while Westpac declined almost 4%.
A Judo Bank survey showed Australia’s services sector continued to expand in July, albeit at a slower pace, with a services PMI of 50.4, down from 51.2 in June but still above the 50 threshold that separates expansion from contraction.
The Australian dollar was trading around $0.65 on Monday.
Japanese markets also slid sharply on Monday, extending losses from the previous two sessions. The benchmark index fell nearly 5% to below 34,200, marking its second‑largest point drop on record and the biggest decline since 2020, with all sectors posting steep declines.
The Nikkei 225 closed the morning session at 34,247.56, down 1,662.14 points (4.63%), after a low of 33,369.37. Japanese shares ended Friday sharply lower.
SoftBank Group fell more than 7%, while Fast Retailing, the operator of Uniqlo, dropped almost 3%. Honda plunged nearly 9% and Toyota slipped almost 8%.
In the tech sector, Screen Holdings fell about 2%, Advantest plunged nearly 7%, and Tokyo Electron dropped more than 9%.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group plunged almost 16%, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial fell about 13%, and Mizuho Financial Group slid over 13%.
Export‑oriented companies also declined, with Canon down over 7%, Mitsubishi Electric down more than 11%, Sony down about 2%, and Panasonic falling 7.5%.
Other notable decliners included Minebea Mitsumi (almost 19%), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (almost 16%), Chiba Bank (almost 15%), and T&D Holdings, Tokio Marine, Fujikura, Nomura Holdings, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Concordia Financial, Dai-ichi Life, Japan Post and Disco, each slipping more than 13%.
Conversely, LY rose about 5% and Nitori Holdings added over 3%.
Bank of Japan minutes from the June 13‑14 policy meeting indicated a modest recovery in the economy, though signs of weakness remain. Policymakers delayed normalisation of monetary policy and decided to unveil a detailed plan in July to reduce bond purchases, continuing the bond‑buying programme for Japanese government bonds, commercial paper and corporate bonds as decided in March.
The U.S. dollar traded in the lower 145 yen range on Monday.
Taiwan and South Korea fell 6.3% and 5.1% respectively, while New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia each slipped between 1.7% and 2.8%. Hong Kong and China were down 0.9% and 0.3%.
U.S. markets posted sharp declines on Friday, extending Thursday’s steep sell‑off. The Nasdaq fell to its lowest close in two months, and the S&P 500 hit a near two‑month low.
The major averages ended the day off their lows but remained negative. The Nasdaq dropped 417.98 points (2.4%) to 16,776.16; the S&P 500 fell 100.12 points (1.8%) to 5,346.56; and the Dow Jones industrials slipped 610.71 points (1.5%) to 39,737.26.
European markets also fell, with the German DAX down 2.3%, the French CAC 40 down 1.6%, and the U.K. FTSE 100 down 1.3%.
Crude oil prices fell to a two‑month low on Friday, with West Texas Intermediate futures slipping $2.79 (3.66%) to $73.52 a barrel, marking a second consecutive decline amid concerns over weakening demand.
