mo4ch:>Asian stock markets tumble after oil prices crash

Asian stock markets tumble after oil prices crash9 March 2020 Related TopicsCoronavirus outbreak Image copyrightGetty ImagesAsian stock markets started Monday trading spooked by a major crash in oil prices.In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index crashed 6.1% while in Australia, the ASX 200 dropped about 6% in early trading.Markets have been rattled by the threat of a price war between oil exporting group Opec and its main ally Russia.Asian investors also reacted to a slump in Chinese export figures released at the weekend.Global markets are seeing heightened volatility over fears of a major economic hit from the coronavirus. After oil prices crashed more than 20% on Monday, energy firms have seen some of the biggest share price falls.Australia-listed Oil Search's share price dropped by 31% while energy firm Santos saw its shares drop more than a quarter in value (27%).Oil and other commodity companies make up a large part of the Australian stock market.The other reason behind Wall S…