Japan stocks rebound a day after major rout

Japanese shares rebounded in Tuesday morning trade after plunging on Monday in a rout that sent shockwaves through global financial markets.

The Nikkei 225 stock index rose by as much as 10% after slumping by over 12% the previous day.

Monday’s market rout in Tokyo came after the Bank of Japan’s second rate hike in 17 years sent the yen soaring against the dollar making Japanese stocks – and the country’s exports – more expensive for foreign investors and buyers.

Stocks in the US, the UK and Europe also fell on Monday due to fears that the American economy is heading for a slowdown.

Jesper Koll, executive director of Monex Group Japan, said he still had confidence in the country’s stocks despite Monday’s big falls.

“Japan’s fundamentals are strong, recession risks are nil, and corporate leaders are dead-set on raising capital returns,” he told the BBC.

Shares in South Korea were also regaining ground on Tuesday. The Kospi stock index was up more than 4% after falling 8.8% on Tuesday – its worst trading session since the global financial crisis of 2008.

Taiwan’s main stock index was trading more than 3% higher, after a record 8.4% drop on Monday.

• Earlier in New York, the technology-heavy Nasdaq index opened 6.3% lower but those losses eased during the day and the index ended the session down 3.4%.

• The S&P 500 fell 3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 2.6% down by the end of trading on Monday.

• In Europe, the CAC-40 in Paris trimmed earlier losses to end 1.4% lower while Frankfurt’s DAX and the UK’s FTSE 100 lost about 2% each.

Weak jobs data in the US on Friday sparked concerns about growth in the world’s largest economy.

It also stoked speculation about when, and by how much, the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates.

“Markets are very volatile at the moment and will likely stay volatile until the Fed decision in September. So we wouldn’t rule out rapid swings in both directions,” said Stefan Angrick, a senior economist with Moody’s Analytics.

There are also concerns that shares in big technology companies, particularly those investing heavily in artificial intelligence (AI), have been overvalued and are now facing difficulties.

Last week, chipmaker Intel announced major layoffs, as well as disappointing financial results.

There is also speculation that rival Nvidia, which has been one of the main beneficiaries of the boom in demand for AI technology, will delay its latest product launch.