High oil prices hit Japan harder than anywhere and its going to be an ugly one in stock markets today.
Nikkei 225 futures are trading down 7.3% ahead of the cash open. The index tried to stage a rally on Friday, finishing up 0.6% to wrap up a bruising week but it’s going to get ugly today.
The 7.3% drop would put it at 51,570, which would be the lowest since January 9 and wipe out virtually all of the gains for the year.
Nikkei 225 cash
Note that Australian stock markets are closed for holiday today and are so far spared the pain.
Over in the US, Russell 2000 futures are now down 3.3% and that puts them down 2.4% YTD and flat since mid-September. Nasdaq futures are down 2% and at a session low.
