Asia’s stocks fell today amid a renewed selloff of technology shares and as a gain in the yen yesterday
Japan’s Nikkei 225 dumped 340.07 points, or 2.4%, to end the week at 13,960.05
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong gave back 183.32 points, or 0.8%, to 23,003.64
The yen traded at 101.53 per U.S. dollar after yesterday reaching its highest level in three weeks. The Nikkei 225 extended this week’s loss to 7.3%, the most since the five days after the 2011 earthquake.
Fast Retailing Corp., which comprises 9.5% of the Nikkei 225 Stock Average, tumbled 7.9% in Tokyo after Asia’s biggest clothing retailer cut its forecast for annual profit.
SoftBank Corp., a mobile-phone operator and Internet-company investor, fell 3.8% to 6,900 yen
Tencent Holdings Ltd. slid 6.8% in Hong Kong, with Asia’s number-one Internet company following yesterday’s rout in U.S. technology shares. Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. surged 12%, the most in more than five years, after an agreement to link Shanghai and
Hong Kong markets.
New Zealand’s index lost ground as Xero Ltd., a Wellington-based online-accounting software developer, slipped 5.3% to NZ$31.35, bringing its decline this week to 17%.
CHINA
A report today showed Chinese consumer prices rose 2.4% from a year earlier in March, after gaining 2% in February, matching the median of 55 economists’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The nation’s producer price index retreated 2.3% following the previous month’s 2% drop.
The Shanghai CSI 300 doffed 3.10 points, or 0.1%, to 2,270.67
In other markets;
Taiwan’s Taiex Index subtracted 40.05 points, or 0.5%, to 8.908.05
Singapore’s Straits Times Index erased 5.36 points, or 0.2%, to 3,198.22
Korea’s Kospi Index faded 11.17 points, or 0.6%, to 1,997.44
The New Zealand Exchange 50 index slid 24.06 points, or 0.5%, to 5,091.43
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 docked 52.10 points, or 1%, to 5,428.65
