Dipo Olowookere
By Investors Hubs
Asian stocks ended broadly lower on Wednesday after U.S. technology stocks came under heavy selling pressure overnight on concerns about tighter industry regulations. Trade-related tensions also kept investors nervous.
China’s Shanghai Composite Index dropped 44.43 points or 1.4 percent to 3,122.22, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index tumbled 768.30 points or 2.5 percent to 5,789.50.
Japanese shares fell sharply, with the overnight sell-off in big U.S tech companies and price adjustments on ex-dividend trades weighing on the market. The Nikkei 225 Index fell 286.01 points or 1.3 percent to 21,031.31, and the broader Topix index closed 1 percent lower at 1,699.56.
Chipmaker Advantest tumbled 3.4 percent, while peer Tokyo Electron lost 4.4 percent. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, Daiwa Securities, Inpex, Japan Petroleum and Nissan Motor declined 1-3 percent. Panasonic Corp. plunged 5.1 percent after U.S. authorities opened a probe into a fatal Tesla crash.
Australian shares fell notably in thin trade, taking the lead from sharp overnight declines on Wall Street. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index slid 42.80 points or 0.7 percent to 5,789.50, and the broader All Ordinaries Index ended down 44.50 points or 0.8 percent at 5,899.20.
Mining giant Rio Tinto fell over 1 percent after selling its remaining Australian coal asset to private equity manager EMR Capital and Indonesia’s Adaro Energy Tbk for $2.25 billion. BHP Billiton, Fortescue Metals Group, South32, Woodside Petroleum, Santos and Oil Search declined 1-5 percent after a drop in copper, oil and iron prices overnight.
The big four banks ended down between 0.4 percent and 1.1 percent, while technology stocks like Xero and Altium fell around 2 percent each.
