Asian Markets in Turmoil: Japan and Taiwan Lead Losses

The Asian stock markets experienced significant declines on Monday morning after major indices worldwide had dropped sharply last week. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 recorded a decrease of around 6.4%, while the Topix index fell by more than 7%. These losses followed weak U.S. labor market data on Friday, which fueled fears of an impending recession in the world’s largest economy. At the same time, the Japanese yen has gained strength against the U.S. dollar since the Bank of Japan raised interest rates last week. This currency development makes Japanese stocks more expensive for foreign investors and contributes to the losses in Tokyo. Significant declines were also observed in other parts of Asia. Taiwan's main index fell by about 7%, with chipmaker TSMC losing more than 6%. In South Korea, the Kospi index dropped by over 4%. On Friday, stocks in New York had already fallen sharply after official employment numbers showed that U.S. employers created only 114,000 jobs in July, significantly fewer than expected. These figures stoked concerns that the long-standing employment boom in the U.S. could be coming to an end and fueled speculation about when and to what extent the Federal Reserve might cut interest rates.