The stock markets in Tokyo, Seoul and Taiwan are down sharply as unfavorable employment data in United States fueling recession fears and weighing on global financial markets.

In Japan the NIKKEI index of Tokyo closed with dip 12.82% the biggest one-day drop in its history, while Brent oil prices despite concerns about an escalation in the Middle East have fallen to $76 a barrel from $80 last week.

Notably, oil prices are at a 7-month low, while the NIKKEI also erased all of its gains so far this year, moving into a loss position for the year.

At the same time, the index Topix lost 10.49% to 2,271.33 points, while in Taiwan the index Taix was down 8.43% at 19,813.83 at around 13:19 (local time, 08:19 Greek time) as chip giant TSMC lost 9.52%, while KOSPI in Seoul was down 8.09% at 2,459.81, with trading halted by the stock exchange’s automated system to limit volatility.

The dollar fell 2.2% against the Japanese yen to 143.10 yen, while the euro fell 1.9% to 156.35 yen. The euro remained flat against the dollar at $1.0934.

The decisions of the Central Banks and the fears of a recession in the USA

As it states Reuters, the Bank of England’s decision to cut interest rates for the first time since 2020, the Federal Reserve’s move to keep them unchanged, and the Bank of Japan’s decision to raise them, combined with some corporate disappointing financial results affected investor sentiment resulting in stocks falling. This gloomy picture was further intensified by the economic data announced in the US, rekindling fears of a recession.

In particular, jobs data on the other side of the Atlantic showed that hiring slowed last month by much more than economists had expected, which spooked markets, with both stock and bond yields falling. they drop off sharply. Nonfarm payrolls rose by just 114,000 last month, according to data from the Labor Department, slowing from June’s 179,000 and well below the 185,000 economists in a Dow Jones poll had expected. Unemployment at the same time increased, for the fourth consecutive month, to 4.3%.

The financial data follows the data announced on Thursday for manufacturing which for July contracted by the largest percentage in the last 8 months.