Asian stock markets fell on Monday morning, following sharp declines in major indexes around the world last week.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index fell 4.6%, while the Topix fell 5.7%.
This comes after weak US jobs data released on Friday raised concerns of a recession in the world’s largest economy.
Meanwhile, the yen has strengthened against the US dollar since the Bank of Japan raised interest rates last week, making Tokyo stocks more expensive for foreign investors.
“The sell-off was fueled by strong appreciation of [yen] “As global investors are cautious about Japanese corporate earnings, especially earnings of exporting companies such as automakers,” said Kei Okamura, a portfolio manager at Tokyo-based investment firm Neuberger Berman.
The Japanese currency has appreciated about 9% against the US dollar over the past month.
A stronger yen makes Japanese goods more expensive and therefore less attractive to potential buyers abroad.
Elsewhere in Asia, Taiwan’s main stock index fell 6.9%, with shares of chipmaking giant TSMC falling more than 6%.
In South Korea, the Kospi index fell 5.5%, with shares of major chipmakers including Samsung falling more than 7%, while SK Hynix fell 6.5%.
However, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell just 0.6% in morning trade, while the Shanghai Stock Exchange fell 0.2%.
Stocks fell sharply in New York on Friday after official jobs data showed US employers added 114,000 jobs in July, far fewer than expected.
The figures raised concerns that the long-running U.S. jobs boom may be coming to an end and fueled speculation about when and how much the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates.
