Spike in volatility a year after Trump turmoil

Can stock indexes get flashbacks? That's what it seemed like late in Asian trading Thursday, when the Nikkei-225 Stock Average suddenly started to swoon, staging its biggest reversal (points-wise) since exactly a year ago.

That's when Donald Trump's shock US election victory rocked markets around the world -before they bounced back the next day.

The Japanese gauge lurched from a 2 per cent gain to a loss of as much as 1.7 per cent, a move that coursed through other Asian assets and bolstered havens like gold and yen.

Some traders laid the blame on technical factors. It scored a 25-year high on Tuesday.

The move coincided with President Trump's first visit to the region.