Odaily News U.S. stock index futures continued to fall, with Nasdaq futures falling by 3%. The European session has not yet begun, but European stock index futures have fallen sharply, with the Euro Stoxx 50 index and major German and French stock index futures all falling by more than 1%. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index plunged 5%, and is expected to wipe out gains in 2024. The US/Japanese exchange rate rose by more than 3% during the day, and the decline in Japanese stocks accelerated after the yen soared further. Japan's Topix index fell by 10%, and is on track for its worst single-day performance since the 2011 nuclear power plant crisis. Banks and insurance companies are the worst performing stocks in the Japanese stock market. South Korea's KOSDAQ index stopped trading after a plunge of 8%, and the index has wiped out all gains made since regulators imposed a ban in early November last year. The Taiwan stock market collapsed by 1,700 points, down 8% during the day. The Australian stock market hit its lowest level since the end of June. (Jinshi)