South Korea stocks lead Asian markets losses; Softbank shares plunge

Asian stocks fell on Thursday as fears over the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic continued to weigh on investor sentiment.

Major markets in the region fell deep into negative territory, with South Korea’s Kospi leading losses as it dropped 8.39% to close at 1,457.64 while the Kosdaq index fell 11.71% to end its trading day at 428.35. The Korea Exchange said earlier during the session that circuit breakers were triggered after the Kospi dropped 8%, with trading halted for 20 mins, according to Reuters.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 2.27% by the afternoon, as of its final hour of trading.

In the Philippines, where trading was halted earlier this week, the PSE Composite Index plummeted 13.34% to close at 4,623.42 as it resumed on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, the Jakarta Composite Index traded 5.44% lower in the afternoon. The Indonesia Stock Exchange had earlier announced a temporary halt in trading after the Jakarta Composite Index fell 5%.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was closed 3.44% lower at 4,782.90 after earlier jumping more than 2%. Jobs data released Thursday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for February at 5.1%.

Mainland Chinese stocks were mixed on the day as the Shanghai composite declined 0.98% to about 2,702.13 while the Shenzhen composite rose 0.279% to approximately 1,682.93.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan slid 1.04% to close at 16,552.83, with index heavyweight and conglomerate Softbank Group plummeting 17.22% ⁠— its biggest one day fall, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, the Topix index added 0.97% to close at 1,283.22.