Asian stocks fell to their lowest level in 20 months, and the Chinese Yuan also weakened at the end of a turbulent week for financial markets as concern over corporate profits increased as well as continued worries about global trade and economic growth.
The MSCI Asia-Pacific shares index outside Japan fell by 1.04 percent to clear its early gains hitting its lowest level since February 2017. The fall in the Chinese Yuan did not help, refocusing market attention on slower growth in the second-largest economy in the world.
The MSCI index has been bruised by heavy sell-off over the past few days hitting its fifth weekly loss, the longest since 2015, and has fallen more than 4% this week.
Along with the Chinese Yuan's retreat to the important psychological level of 6.96 against the US dollar, the lowest since December 2016, Chinese stocks fell as the blue-chip index fell by 0.9% and the Shanghai composite index by 0.2%.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell by 1.05%, with tech stocks down by 2.94%. In South Korea, the Kospi index hit its lowest level since December 2016. Japan's Nikkei closed down by 0.4% hitting a 6-month low, ending the week down by 5.98%.
