Guardian

3m ago 00:45
Stocks in Asia Pacific are being hammered on Thursday morning as the grim drumbeat of war becomes louder by the minute in Ukraine.
The Australian ASX200 index was first cab off the rank and is down 2.3% after 90 minutes of trading.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei average is down 0.8% and the Kospi in Seoul has fallen 1.4%.



A trader works at the New York stock exchange where stocks fell heavily on Wednesday. Photograph: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock

It follows steep losses on Wall Street where the Dow lost 1.4%, S&P 500 dropped 1.8%, Nasdaq plunged 2.6%.

The S&P 500 – the broadest measure of shares in the US – has fallen 10% since its record high on 3 January, meaning it is officially in a correction phase. The Dow is only a fraction off the same metric.

The Nasdaq has tumbled more than 16% so far this year