Asia stocks swing wildly while US futures climb after Monday’s record drops

Elsewhere in Asia, the Philippines suspended trade on its local stock exchange as of Tuesday “to ensure the safety of employees and traders in light of the escalating cases of the coronavirus disease,” Ramon Monzon, president and CEO of the Philippine Stock Exchange said in a statement.

Asia Pacific’s unstable morning followed a catastrophic day for US stocks. The Dow on Monday recorded its worst one-day point drop on record — falling more than 3,000 points at its lowest — and its worst percentage drop since October 19, 1987, also known as “Black Monday.” The index ended down 2,997 points, or 12.9%.

The S&P 500 closed down 12%, while the Nasdaq closed down 12.3%.

Trump also said the virus “is not under control” and acknowledged the economy may be falling into a recession.

Markets in Asia Pacific have been hammered by the virus, too. The Nikkei, Kospi, Hang Seng and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 all fell into a bear market last week.

Major indexes in mainland China have so far avoided following suit, though they have still recorded declines. The Shanghai Composite is down about 15% from its recent high, short of the 20% it would need to hit to enter a bear market.

The Shenzhen Component and Shenzhen Composite indexes, meanwhile, are down 14% and 12%, respectively, from their recent peaks.

— Sherisse Pham, Matt Egan and Anneken Tappe contributed to this report.