Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock index is on a downturn on Monday morning. The sell-off reflects investors' mounting anxiety that increased trade friction could cause the global economy to tank.



The Nikkei 225 briefly dropped more than 2,900 points, or about 8.8 percent, from Friday's close. This is the index's third-biggest intraday drop.



US President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs and China's announcement of counter-levies have roiled the market.



Investors are also concerned that the 24 percent levy on goods imported from Japan will harm the country's economy.



New York's Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 5.5 percent on Friday.



The more than 2,200-point drop is the Dow's third-largest single-day decline on record.



One analyst says market players are increasingly worried that Trump's tariff policy may lead to a recession in the US and the world economy.



The analyst also points out that if tit-for-tat tariff hikes intensify, Japan's benchmark Nikkei Average could fall below the 30,000 level.