Japanese stocks posted their biggest decline in three weeks on Friday, leading regional losses as part of a global market rout following a deadly Malaysia Airlines crash in eastern Ukraine.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index shed 154.55 points, or 1%, to 15,215.71. The yen weakened against the U.S. dollar to ¥101.41 from ¥101.21 on Thursday.
Among top underperforming stocks, Japanese electronics giant Sharp Corp. lost 2.1%, semiconductor maker Renesas Electronics Corp. fell 1.7%, and IT service provider NEC Corp. gave up 1.6%.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong fell 66.08 points, or 0.3%, to 23,454.79
Sunac China Holdings jumped 3.5%, leading gains in the sector. China Vanke Co., one of China’s largest real-estate developers, advanced 2.4%.
But tech stocks remained substantially weak, as online game developer Forgame Holdings sank 13.2%, and its domestic peer Baioo Family Interactive tumbled 3.2%.
In other markets;
The Shanghai CSI 300 index inched up 7.08 points, or 0.3%, to 2,161.14
In Korea, the Kospi index let go of 1.48 points, or 0.1%, to 2,019.42
Singapore’s Straits Times Index took on 3.64 points, or 0.1%, to 3,310.53
In Taiwan, the Taiex index sank 7.27 points, or 0.1%, to 9,400.97
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 dipped 3.46 points, or 0.1%, to 5,108.93
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 eked up 9.23 points, or 0.2%, to 5,531.66
