Japanese stocks plunged by around 5 per cent in the first minutes of trading on Friday, as dealing floors responded to a big overnight fall in US stocks and the yen’s surge to its highest level since October.
Shares in Sony fell by over 9 per cent, Toyota by over 6 per cent and MUFG, Japan’s biggest banking group, by 5.5 per cent in a rout propelled by fears that massive US tariffs on China will prolong market chaos and hasten a global recession.
The yen strengthened 1.2 per cent to ¥143.2 a dollar. In comments to reporters on Friday morning, Japan’s finance minister Katsunobu Kato said that Japan had agreed with the US that excessive currency volatility would negatively impact the economy.
“Based on this agreement, we would proactively communicate with the United States,” said Kato.
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