Global stocks routed again as oil slide seems bottomless

Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index opened down 315.68 points, or 1.87%, at 16,826.93, and fell as much as 455 points, or 3.7%, in the first 30 minutes of trading.

Selling of Sony Corp shares began at the opening of the morning session and carried through until the end of the day, when the electronics giant closed 8 percent lower.

Oil’s selloff, which has dragged crude prices down by 25 percent this year, and slowing growth in China have ignited a wave of volatility through global financial markets in 2016, pushing indexes from China and Japan to Europe close to bear markets.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei share average tumbled to a fresh 14-1/2 month low on Wednesday as global markets were battered by plunging crude prices that slid to almost $27 a barrel in the U.S.

Earlier, stock markets across the Middle East saw more than £27bn wiped off their value as the lifting of economic sanctions against Iran threatened to unleash a fresh wave of oil on to global markets that are already drowning in excess supply. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.3 percent to 2,968.92 and South Korea’s Kospi was off 2.3 percent at 1,846.41.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 165 points, or 1 percent, to 16,151 as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern. India’s Sensex was down 1.6 percent at 24,088.07.

Speculation is mounting that China may boost stimulus measures after a report on Tuesday showed gross domestic product in the world’s second-largest economy expanded 6.9 per cent in 2015, just shy of the government’s 7 per cent target, and the least since 1990. Nippon Electric Glass Co. jumped 7.1 percent, leading gains on the Nikkei 225, after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its rating on the stock.

Although sentiment remains sour, traders say some investors are scooping up battered stocks after the dollar recovered above the 117.00 yen line in Asian trade after dropping to 116.56 yen, from 117.10 late in NY.

Morgan Stanley gained 1 percent early Tuesday after the investment bank reported better earnings and revenue than analysts were expecting. The euro barely rose against the dollar, to $1.0909.