Asia stocks drop, with Japan leading losses, in week of market gyrations

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 dropped 1.69% in early trade while the Topix index fell 1.93%. South Korea’s Kospi also shed 1.52%.

Stocks in Australia fell in morning trade, with the S&P/ASX 200 dropping more than 1.5% as the sectors largely declined. Australia retail sales data for January is set to be released around 8:30 a.m. HK/SIN on Friday.

Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index traded 0.56% higher.

Shares of airlines in the region declined on Friday. Australia’s Qantas Airways dropped 4.73% while Japan’s ANA Holdings fell 2.32%. Over in South Korea, Korean Air Lines’ stock plummeted 4.98%.

The moves came after and American Airlines saw their stocks plummet more than 13% each overnight. The International Air Transport Association, an industry trade group, forecast on Thursday that airlines could lose up to $113 billion in revenue this year — the most since the financial crisis — if the coronavirus continues to spread.

More than 97,800 people globally have been infected by the virus so far, while at least 3,300 lives have been taken worldwide, according to date compiled by John Hopkins University.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 969.58 points to close at 26,121.28 while the S&P 500 fell 3.3% to end its trading day at 3,023.94. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 3.1% to close at 8,738.60.

Stocks stateside fell sharply as the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield fell to an all-time low below 0.9%. The 10-year Treasury yield was last at 0.9056%.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 96.820 after seeing earlier highs above 97.

The Japanese yen, often seen as a safe-haven currency in times of economic uncertainty, traded at 106.25 after strengthening from lows above 108 earlier this week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6619 after declining from levels above $0.663 yesterday.