Asian stocks plunged and in the morning the regional index was heading for its worst monthly drop since last May. Investors are worried by the political crisis in Hong Kong and a greater than expected decline in Japanese industrial production. The dollar gained ground, copper and oil fell. The MSCI Asia Pacific index slipped 1,1% as of 11:44 am in Tokyo, taking September losses to more than 5 percent.
Japan's Topix fell 1,6% and Hong's Hang Seng fell 1,45 on the waves of street protests. The greenback rallied against the Korean won and Australian dollar, while the Hong Kong currency was trading at a 28-month low. The New Zealand dollar is also hurting. Copper fell 0,2% in London and oil slipped 0,3%.
Global equities are heading for their first quarterly decline in more than a year as the Fed is cutting back on bond buying and contemplating rate hikes. The leaders of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong have given an ultimatum, which expires tomorrow, for the government to accept their demands. Japan's industrial production fell 2,9% last month from a year earlier.
“Markets are understandably nervous at the moment. Despite the corrections we are still at high levels” comments Mark Lister, head of private wealth research at Craigs Investment Partners in Wellington. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0,2 percent in the morning and Korea's Kospi 0,8 percent.
