Global markets plunged on Monday, deepening a global stocks rout triggered by US President Donald Trump’s trade war and China’s forceful response to unexpectedly high tariffs.
Germany’s Dax opened down 9%, while London’s FTSE was about 5% lower. European markets were, on the whole, faring better than Asian markets in early trade. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed 7.9% lower, while the broader Topix finished down 7.7%. Tech giant Sony plummeted more than 10%.
In mainland China, where markets reopened after a public holiday, the Shanghai Composite Index closed more than 7% lower. The blue-chip CSI300 index also lost about 7%. In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng index last traded just under 12% lower. Chinese tech giants Alibaba and Tencent were each down more than 14% and 10% respectively.
Trading volumes in Hong Kong surged on Monday, which she said was “a clear sign of widespread forced liquidations and what can only be described as a full-blown panic.”
Asian markets are tracking the worst two-day stretch for Wall Street stocks in five years. US stock futures plunged Sunday evening after two sessions of sell-offs that wiped away over $5.4 trillion in market value.
US stocks fell sharply on Friday after China retaliated fiercely, imposing a 34% tariff on all US goods, raising fears of an escalating and damaging trade war fueled by continuing trade tension between the world’s two largest economies.