Tokyo led a plunge across Asian equities Monday, while the yen hit a six-month high after weak US jobs data fanned fears of a recession in the world’s top economy and boosted bets on several Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.
The sell-off followed another hefty day of losses on Wall Street, where heavyweight tech firms including Amazon and Microsoft took the brunt owing to worries an AI-fuelled rally this year may have been overdone.
A much-anticipated report Friday showed the US economy added just 114,000 jobs last month, well down from June and far fewer than expected, while the jobless rate rose to the highest level since October 2021.
The news came a day after lacklustre factory data that stoked concerns that Fed officials may have held borrowing costs at more than two-decade highs too long.
That has led to speculation the economy could be in for a hard landing …