Japan’s Nikkei crashes 5% as US markets see worst December since Great Depression

Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Topix indices have both tumbled by roughly 5 percent to a 20-month low after US markets suffered their worst Christmas Eve crash on record.

On the heels of the US markets crash, Nikkei 225, which has been slowly sliding downward over the past weeks, dropped sharply to 19,144 on open Tuesday, down 20percent from its October 2 peak. Meanwhile, the Tokyo Stock Price Index, also known as Topix, plunged roughly five more percent to 1,414, having hit its peak in January.

The Asian stock downfall followed the Wall Street sell-off on Monday. Experts believe that the US stock plunge before Christmas was caused by investors’ growing concerns about the interest-rate increase by the Federal Reserve, the slowing of the global economy, and the US-China trade dispute. President Donald Trump’s attack on the Federal Reserve also scared the stock market on Christmas Eve. “The only problem our economy has is the Fed,” the president tweeted on Monday, forcing the stocks to react.

“Ever since Trump started his trade protection, the trade war stuff, the markets have not liked it. He should get a clue, reverse these crazy tariffs, and start making peace with the world,” if he wants to see the markets recover, Jeffrey Albert Tucker, executive editor of Laissez Faire Books, told RT.

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