Japan’s Nikkei 225 drops more than 2% as Asia-Pacific stocks slip; mainland China and Hong Kong markets closed

SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific slipped in Friday trade, with Japanese markets among the region’s biggest losers

In Friday afternoon trade, the Nikkei 225 fell 2.31% to close at 28,771.07 while the Topix index shed 2.16% to finish the trading day at 1,986.31

Sentiment at Japan’s large manufacturers improved in the three months to September, according to the Bank of Japan’s quarterly tankan business sentiment survey released Friday. The headline index for large manufacturers’ sentiment came in at plus 18 — an improvement over the previous quarter’s reading of of plus 14

Wisdomtree’s Jesper Koll said the data release showed that Japan’s large manufacturers are “very competitive globally.

“It’s good news because these disruptions from the delta variant and the disruptions on the supply chain you know, according to the Tankan, don’t seem to be that much of a negative so that spells good news in terms of coming upward revisions to corporate profitability,” Koll, senior advisor at the firm, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Friday

Elsewhere, Australian stocks also notched heavy losses, with the S&P/ASX 200 closing 2% lower at 7,185.50. Taiwan’s Taiex plunged 2.15% on the day to 16,570.89

South Korea’s Kospi dipped 1.62% to close at 3,019.18. In Southeast Asia, the Straits Times index in Singapore declined about 1%, as of 3:08 p.m. local time

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan declined 0.97%

Markets in Hong Kong were closed for a holiday on Friday, while those in mainland China are closed for the Golden Week holiday from Friday till October 7