Tokyo
Japanese and Australian stocks tumbled Friday at the end of a healthy week across world markets, with traders tracking a sell-off on Wall Street as another huge jump in jobless claims underlined the impact of coronavirus on the global economy. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 ended the morning down 2.29 percent, or 463.28 points, at 19,730.41, while the broader Topix index slipped 2.00 percent, or 29.23 points, to 1,434.80. “Sell-orders are seen dominating early trade in the Japanese stocks market following falls in US shares,” Okasan Online Securities said. Sydney fell nearly four percent and Wellington dropped 0.6 percent, with the rest of Asia closed for public holidays. US markets turned negative after the Labor Department said another 3.8 million US workers filed for unemployment benefits last week, taking the six-week total above 30 million.—AFP
