Asia Pacific stock markets have been hammered again today, as the panic gripping world financial markets deepens.
Pedestrians walk past an electronic board showing the numbers for the Nikkei 225 index on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo. Photo: AFP
New Zealand's Top 50 index fell about 8 percent in early trading - its biggest intraday fall ever - as it took its lead from Wall Street where the main indices closed down about 10 percent.
The Top 50 index picked up this afternoon to end the day down 4.9 percent, or by 506 points to 9827, which is back to levels last seen in June 2019.
Auckland Airport's shares fell 7.8 percent after it downgraded its full year profit outlook, while Tourism Holdings's shares fell 16.7 percent and Air New Zealand's fell 12.5 percent.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei index fell as much as 10 percent at one point, while Australia's benchmark fell nearly 8 percent, but has also recovered - just 1.0 percent in late afternoon trading.
The New Zealand dollar was steady at 61.3 US cents, after some early morning volatility saw it drop to 60.8 US cents.
