Markets in Asia fall after rough week on Wall Street; Japan’s yen slides to two-decade-low
Hong Kong
CNN Business
—
Asian markets and US stock futures fell Sunday night, days after the Dow fell 880 points on a surprising inflation report.
Japan’s Nikkei tumbled 2.9%, as the Japanese yen weakened to the lowest level in more than 20 years. The Japanese currency has declined rapidly in recent months because of a strong greenback and ultra-loose Japanese monetary policy.
The Japanese central bank and government warned in a rare joint statement on Friday that they are concerned about the sharp falls, suggesting a potential intervention by Tokyo to stem the decline.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng also slid 3% on Monday. Korea’s Kospi fell 2.8%. China’s Shanghai Composite was down 0.5%.
In the US, Dow futures were down 1.1% Sunday evening. S&P 500 futures were down around 1.4%, while Nasdaq futures were down about 2.1%.
On Friday, the Dow plunged after a key inflation report missed estimates and showed a higher-than-anticipated increase in the price of consumer goods, closing down 880 points for the day, or 2.5%. The S&P 500 shed 2.7% and the Nasdaq dropped about 3%.
The May consumer price index rose 8.6% year-over-year, its highest level since 1981. Economists had forecast an 8.3% increase. The core index, which excludes food and energy prices, rose by 6%, slightly higher than estimates of 5.9%.
– CNN’s Nicole Goodkind contributed to this report