Nikkei Sees Worst Day Since 1987 With Japan Stocks in Bear Market; South Korea’s Kospi Briefly Halts Trading

• The 12.4% loss on the Nikkei was the worst day for the index since the “Black Monday” of 1987.
• At this level, the Nikkei has also erased all its gains this year, moving into a loss position year to date.
• The yen also strengthened to its highest level against the dollar since January, and was last trading at 142.09.

Japan stocks confirmed a bear market on Monday as Asia-Pacific markets continued the sell-off from last week, with the Nikkei 225 and Topix dropping over 12%.

The benchmark indexes have fallen more than 20% from their all-time highs on July 11.

The 12.4% loss on the Nikkei — which saw it close at 31,458.42 — was the worst day for the index since the “Black Monday” of 1987. The loss of 4,451.28 points on the index was also the largest in terms of points in its entire history.