Asia-Pacific stocks were mostly lower during Friday trade, following Wall Street’s sharp declines overnight.
Australia led losses among the major markets regionally, with the S&P/ASX 200 declining 3.08%.
Mainland Chinese stocks also fell by the afternoon. The Shanghai composite dropped 1.38% while the Shenzhen component declined 1.71%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slipped 1.83%.
The Kospi in South Korea dropped 1.56%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 1.34% and the Topix index shed 1.08%.
In Southeast Asia, the Straits Times index in Singapore also fell nearly 1.41%. Malaysia’s FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index bucked the overall trend as it rose 0.15%.
Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index slipped 1.7%.
Tech stocks tumble
Technology stocks in the region followed their counterparts stateside and saw losses in Friday trade.
Shares of Apple suppliers in Asia declined, with Sharp and Murata Manufacturing in Japan falling 2.09% and 2.25%, respectively. South Korea’s LG Display’s stock dropped about 2%. Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company also declined 1.49%.
The moves came after the Cupertino-based tech giant saw its shares plunge 8% on Thursday, it’s biggest one-day decline since mid-March.
Chinese tech stocks listed in Hong Kong also came under pressure. Tech behemoth Alibaba saw its stock in the city drop 4.93% while Tencent also slipped 3.09% and Meituan Dianping fell 3.05%. It came as the Hang Seng Tech index fell more than 3%.
Wall Street plunges overnight
The moves in Asia-Pacific came on the back of overnight declines on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 807.77 points, or 2.8%, to 28,292.73 — its biggest one-day decline since June 11. The S&P 500 slid 3.5% to 3,455.06 and the Nasdaq Composite fell by 5% to close at 11,458.10.
“There has been no obvious catalyst for the move,” National Australia Bank’s Rodrigo Catril wrote in a note. “Now the question is whether the correction has legs or whether investors are temped back in.”
On the economic data front, Australia’s retail turnover rose 3.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis in July, according to figures released Friday from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. That followed the June quarter gross domestic product figures released earlier this week that showed the country officially entering a recession.
Following the data release, the Australian dollar traded at $0.7268 after seeing an earlier low of $0.7249.
Later Friday stateside, a closely watched U.S. jobs report is also set to be released, with economists polled by Dow Jones expecting the U.S. economy to have added more than 1 million jobs last month.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 92.799 following its bounce this week from levels below 92.
The Japanese yen changed hands at 106.18 per dollar after it strengthened yesterday from the 106.5 handle against the greenback.
Oil prices were lower in the afternoon of Asian trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures down 1.04% to $43.61 per barrel. U.S. crude futures shed 1.11% to $40.91 per barrel.
Here’s a look at what’s on tap:
- U.S.: Nonfarm payrolls and unemployment rate for August
Correction: This article was updated to reflect that the Japanese yen strengthened from the 106.5 handle against the greenback yesterday.
Source: CNBC