Japan stocks drop 5%, China, Hong Kong shares plunge beyond 3% amid oil price war

Asia stocks saw steep declines on Monday as oil prices plunged amid fears of a price war after OPEC failed to strike a deal with its allies on production cuts, adding to volatility already brought about by fears surrounding the coronavirus spread.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan fell 5.07 percent to close at 19,698.76, while the Topix was down 5.61percent to end its trading day at 1,388.97.

Mainland Chinese stocks saw sharp declines on the day, with the Shanghai composite down 3.01 percent to about 2,943.29 while the Shenzhen component shed 4.09% to 11,108.55. The Shenzhen composite slipped 3.786% to around 1,842.66.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index plunged 4.23 percent to close at 25,040.46.

South Korea’s Kospi also dropped 4.19 percent to close at 1,954.77. Stocks in Australia tanked, with the S&P/ASX 200 down 7.33 percent to close at 5,760.60.

Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index fell 4.97 percent.