Investing.com – Asian stock markets tumbled on Monday, with exporters and financials leading losses as mounting concerns over the U.S. economic outlook prompted investors to shun riskier assets.
During late Asian trade, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index plunged 2.7%, Australia’s ASX/200 Index dropped 2.4%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index sank 1.9%.
Concerns that the global economic recovery is losing momentum were underlined on Friday, after the Department of Labor said U.S. non-farm payrolls were unchanged last month, the weakest reading since September 2010.
Economists had expected non-farm payrolls to rise by 74,000 in August. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.1%.
Shares in Japanese exporters with high exposure to the U.S. performed poorly, amid a downbeat outlook for export earnings.
Consumer electronics giant Sony saw shares slump 4%, semiconductor manufacturer Elpida Memory lost 4.75%, while automakers Honda and Toyota saw shares retreat 4.7% and 2.6% respectively.
Shares in Japan’s largest investment bank Nomura Holdings sank 4.65% after it was named as one of 17 financial institutions to face a U.S. government lawsuit over the sales of mortgage-backed securities in the buildup to the 2008 financial crisis.
The lawsuits were filed in federal court and announced after the close of U.S. trading on Friday.
In Hong Kong, shares in oil producers led losses after crude oil prices fell to a one-week low of USD85.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, dampening earnings prospects for energy explorers.
Oil and gas giant PetroChina saw shares slide 2.9%, Sinopec dropped 2%, while shares in China’s largest offshore oil producer CNOOC plunged 8.3% after China’s State Oceanic Administration ordered the firm to suspend production at its Penglai oil field in northeast China due to an ongoing oil leak.
Elsewhere, the outlook for European stock markets was downbeat. The EURO STOXX 50 futures pointed to a drop of 2.1%, France’s CAC 40 futures fell 2.15%, the FTSE 100 futures retreated 1.75%, while Germany's DAX futures indicated a loss of 1.95%.
Later in the day, the euro zone was to publish official data on retail sales, as well as revised data on service sector growth and data on investor confidence. Meanwhile, markets in the U.S. were to remain closed for the Labor Day holiday.
During late Asian trade, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index plunged 2.7%, Australia’s ASX/200 Index dropped 2.4%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index sank 1.9%.
Concerns that the global economic recovery is losing momentum were underlined on Friday, after the Department of Labor said U.S. non-farm payrolls were unchanged last month, the weakest reading since September 2010.
Economists had expected non-farm payrolls to rise by 74,000 in August. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.1%.
Shares in Japanese exporters with high exposure to the U.S. performed poorly, amid a downbeat outlook for export earnings.
Consumer electronics giant Sony saw shares slump 4%, semiconductor manufacturer Elpida Memory lost 4.75%, while automakers Honda and Toyota saw shares retreat 4.7% and 2.6% respectively.
Shares in Japan’s largest investment bank Nomura Holdings sank 4.65% after it was named as one of 17 financial institutions to face a U.S. government lawsuit over the sales of mortgage-backed securities in the buildup to the 2008 financial crisis.
The lawsuits were filed in federal court and announced after the close of U.S. trading on Friday.
In Hong Kong, shares in oil producers led losses after crude oil prices fell to a one-week low of USD85.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, dampening earnings prospects for energy explorers.
Oil and gas giant PetroChina saw shares slide 2.9%, Sinopec dropped 2%, while shares in China’s largest offshore oil producer CNOOC plunged 8.3% after China’s State Oceanic Administration ordered the firm to suspend production at its Penglai oil field in northeast China due to an ongoing oil leak.
Elsewhere, the outlook for European stock markets was downbeat. The EURO STOXX 50 futures pointed to a drop of 2.1%, France’s CAC 40 futures fell 2.15%, the FTSE 100 futures retreated 1.75%, while Germany's DAX futures indicated a loss of 1.95%.
Later in the day, the euro zone was to publish official data on retail sales, as well as revised data on service sector growth and data on investor confidence. Meanwhile, markets in the U.S. were to remain closed for the Labor Day holiday.