Pedestrians cross an intersection in the Shibuya area of Tokyo, Japan, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024.
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Asia-Pacific markets continued to sell off on Friday as investors awaited key trade data from China and Taiwan this week, as well as central bank decisions from Australia and India.
Japanese markets led the region's losses, with the Nikkei 225 and Topix falling about 7% in volatile trading. Trading heavyweights such as Mitsubishi, Mitsui & Co., Sumitomo And Marubeni All of them fell by more than 10%.
At these levels, both the Nikkei and Topix are approaching bear market territory, having fallen about 20% from their all-time highs on July 11.
Monday's decline comes on the heels of a rout in Japan's economy on Friday. Nikkei 225 Index The Topix index fell more than 5% and 6%, respectively. The broader Topix index had its worst day in eight years, while the Nikkei average had its worst day since March 2020.
In early Monday trading, yen The pound also rose to its highest level against the dollar since January, last trading at 145.42.
Standard & Poor's Global is due to release service sector activity figures for countries in the region, including India and China, on Monday.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index fell 2.3%.
The Reserve Bank of Australia begins its two-day monetary policy meeting on Monday. Economists polled by Reuters expect the central bank to keep interest rates on hold at 4.35%, but markets will be watching the monetary policy statement for clarity on whether the RBA is still considering raising rates.
South Korea Cosby China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 3.9%, while the Kosdaq fell 3.5%.
Hong Kong Hang Seng Index Hangzhou Financial Index futures were at 16,901, below the index's last close of 16,945.51.
In the United States, stocks fell sharply on Friday after a much weaker-than-expected July jobs report raised concerns that the economy could be in recession.
The Nasdaq was the first of the three major indices to enter correction territory, falling more than 10% from its all-time high. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones are down 5.7% and 3.9% from their all-time highs, respectively.
the Standard & Poor's 500 The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.84%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 610.71 points, or 1.51%.
—CNBC's Pia Singh and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report.
