Asia report: Markets in the red after dire session for US tech stocks

Markets in Asia were lower across the board on Friday, with Australia’s bourse falling more than 3%, as investors took their cues from a dire session on Wall Street overnight.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was down 1.11% at 23,205.43, as the yen remained stable against the dollar, last trading at JPY 106.19.

Of the major components on the benchmark index, automation specialist Fanuc was down 0.34%, fashion firm Fast Retailing was off 0.18%, and technology conglomerate SoftBank Group was 3.21% weaker.

Apple suppliers were among the biggest losers, after the California-based consumer technology giant lost 8% overnight.

Murata Manufacturing was down 1.56%, and Sharp was 0.65% lower.

The broader Topix index was off 0.9% by the end of trading in Tokyo, closing at 1,616.60.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was off 0.87% at 3,355.37, and the smaller, technology-heavy Shenzhen Composite was 0.49% weaker at 2,290.49.

South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.15% to settle at 2,368.25, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was down 1.25% at 24,695.45.

The blue-chip technology stocks were mixed in Seoul, with chipmaker SK Hynix flat, while Samsung Electronics lost 1.42%.

“Equity markets in Asia are in the red as the massive declines in the US dented sentiment,” said CMC Markets analyst David Madden.

“Recently, the Nasdaq 100 has powered ahead as big name companies like Apple, Netflix, Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Tesla have been in extremely high demand.”

Madden said there had been talk of “gross overvaluations” for some time, with yesterday seeing a big sell-off in the stocks.

“Panic selling set in and equities across the board suffered as a result. In the end, the Nasdaq 100 finished down more than 5%, and the S&P 500 lost 3.5%.”

Oil prices were higher at the end of the Asian day, with Brent crude last up 0.43% at $44.26 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate rising 0.58% to $41.61.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 slid 3.06% to 5,925.50, as fresh data showed a 3.2% improvement in retail turnover on a seasonally-adjusted basis in July.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 was off 1.91% at 11,824.31, as medical devices exporter Fisher & Paykel Healthcare plunged 5.41%.

The down under dollars were a mixed picture against the greenback, with the Aussie last 0.12% stronger at AUD 1.3732, while the Kiwi weakened 0.01% to NZD 1.4901.