Asian Stocks Lose $5 Trillion This Year With No End in Sight
- MSCI Asia Pacific Index takes its annual plunge to 16 percent
- Slump comes after 3 percent S&P 500 drop on earnings worries
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After a slump in U.S. stocks, Asia’s main equity gauge has finally succumbed, entering a bear market overnight. The region’s equities have already lost more than $4.9 trillion in value this year, and Thursday isn’t looking pretty.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 2 percent as of 4:30p.m. in Hong Kong, taking its slide from a January peak to 22 percent. Japan’s Topix index plunged 3.1 percent to its lowest level since September 2017, while the Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 3.7 percent. The Kospi index’s 1.6 percent slide pushed the South Korean gauge into bear-market territory after data showed the economy grew less than projected in the third quarter. Hong Kong stocks also tanked.