A global stocks sell-off extended into the Asia morning on Wednesday, as growing fears about the global economy forced investors to dump riskier assets in favour of safe havens such as the U.S. dollar and government bonds.
There was little let-up in the selling in Asia, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down 1.1 per cent to its lowest level since March 15. Tokyo’s Nikkei and Seoul's KOSPI index were also down sharply by 1.8 per cent and 1.19 per cent respectively. Russia, which has been demanding payments for its gas in roubles as sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine bite, said it will halt supplies to Poland and Bulgaria from Wednesday.
The dollar, which hit a two-year high this week, rallied further against a basket of rival currencies to 102.34, as did gold, which edged higher to settle at $1,903 an ounce.