All Asian markets were trading in red in early deals on Thursday following the broadly negative cues overnight from US markets, amid the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, the U.S. and U.K. with a first tranche of sanctions on Russia. Ukraine has declared a state of emergency and Moscow has begun evacuating its Kyiv embassy. Meanwhile, a Pentagon official said 80 percent of Russian forces amassed on the Ukraine border are ready to go and said Putin has assembled enough military assets to conduct a large-scale invasion.
All the Asian markets are trading in red; Nikkei 225 plunged 614.94 points or 2.32% to 25,834.67, Straits Times declined 95.32 points or 2.81% to 3,297.68, Hang Seng slipped 734.68 points or 3.11% to 22,925.60, Taiwan Weighted dropped 345.34 points or 1.91% to 17,710.39, KOSPI fell 71.60 points or 2.63% to 2,647.93, Jakarta Composite lost 131.09 points or 1.89% to 6,788.97, Shanghai Composite fell 31.03 points or 0.89% to 3,458.12 and KLSE Composite was down by 14.02 or 0.93% 1,572.09.
