Stocks in Asia fell on Friday, with Australia leading the losses, as the region lost ground after a substantial overnight selloff in the U.S. The S&P/ASX 200 lost 1.3% after stocks on Wall Street experienced their biggest one-day decline since February in the previous session, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunging 1.9% on Thursday.
Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's Nikkei lost 0.3% and South Korea's Kospi was 0.1% lower, and Singapore's Straits Times Index lost 0.8%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 0.5%.
The causes behind the fall were diverse, as a number of issues that have knocked markets in recent weeks flared up at the same time—such as Argentina's recent bond default, and Portugal's second-largest bank by assets posting a record quarterly loss after it found more bad-loan exposure to its parent than expected. Furthermore, geopolitical concerns remained prominent—particularly in Ukraine and Gaza.
Recommended Content
Editors’ Picks
AUD/USD: A tough barrier remains around 0.6800
AUD/USD failed to maintain the earlier surpass of the 0.6800 barrier, eventually succumbing to the late rebound in the Greenback following the Fed’s decision to lower its interest rates by 50 bps.
EUR/USD flattens post-Fed rate cut
EUR/USD soared into a fresh high for September after the Federal Reserve surprised markets with a full 50 bps rate cut on Wednesday, pushing risk appetite into the high side and sending traders scrambling for the buy button.
Gold surrenders gains and drops to weekly lows near $2,550
Gold prices reverses the initial uptick to record highs around the $$2,600 per ounce troy, coming under renewed downside pressure and revisiting the $2,550 zone amidst the late recovery in the US Dollar.
Australian Unemployment Rate expected to hold steady at 4.2% in August
The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release the monthly employment report at 1:30 GMT on Thursday. The country is expected to have added 25K new positions in August, while the Unemployment Rate is foreseen to remain steady at 4.2%.
Ethereum could rally to $2,817 following Fed's 50 bps rate cut
Ethereum (ETH) is trading above $2,330 on Wednesday as the market is recovering following the Federal Reserve's (Fed) decision to cut interest rates by 50 basis points. Meanwhile, Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETF) recorded $15.1 million in outflows.
Moneta Markets review 2024: All you need to know
VERIFIED In this review, the FXStreet team provides an independent and thorough analysis based on direct testing and real experiences with Moneta Markets – an excellent broker for novice to intermediate forex traders who want to broaden their knowledge base.