TOKYO — Asian stocks slid in early Thursday trading as gyrations on the Tokyo market, the region's biggest, continued — fueled by worries about a surging yen and monetary policies in the U.S. and Japan.
Japanese media reports said overseas hedge funds may be dumping Japan's equities following a disappointment earlier in the week, when the Bank of Japan didn't take additional easing measures to keep economic revival going.
The Nikkei 225 index, which plunged more than 6 percent earlier in the day, was 4.5 percent down by early afternoon to 12,672.70.
Adding to the woes was the dollar's recent fall, trading at about 95 yen Thursday, in a reversal from 100 yen earlier. A cheap yen is a boon for Japan because it helps the nation's giant exporters by raising their overseas revenue when translated into yen.
Elsewhere, the Hang Seng index fell 2.7 percent to 20,775.54, while the Kospi in South Korea lost 1.3 percent to 1,887.33. Benchmarks in Australia, Singapore and Taiwan all fell 1 percent or more.
Mainland Chinese were pummeled as accumulating signs of a slowdown in growth in the world's No. 2 economy caused investors to retreat. The Shanghai Composite Index slid 3 percent to 2,144.74 while the smaller Shenzhen Composite Index lost 2.9 percent to 954.64.
Japan has been one of the main influences in the markets as investors have scrutinized the authorities' attempts to get the country out of its two-decade stagnation.
In April, the Bank of Japan announced a massive stimulus in an attempt to get inflation up to 2 percent. The euphoria that drove the Nikkei up to five-year highs has since dissipated and the index is now around 20 percent down from its recent peak.
