Asian markets close day down

By Aysu Bicer

ANKARA (AA) - Major stock markets in Asia closed down on Thursday, driven by declines in China and Hong Kong.

Concerns about the repercussions of the coronavirus on the global economy and uncertainties regarding monetary policies remain at the center of the agenda.

In addition to the news that China will tighten the controls on companies in the Macau region, the freezing of bond buying and selling for the debt restructuring of the Chinese Evergrande Group, which operates in the real estate and real estate sector, stands out as the factors that reduce the risk appetite on the Asian side.

The Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, lost 0.25% or 9.82 points to stand at 3,973.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock exchange fell 188.37 points, or 0.62%, to 30,323 while the Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, lost over 365.36 points, or 1.16%, to 24,677.

China's Shanghai stock exchange also decreased 49.13 points, or 1.34%, to 3,607.