Asian indexes traded lower Tuesday, tracking declines seen on Wall Street in the previous session.
The Nikkei 225 average in Japan plummeted 337.37 points, or 1.4%, to 23,291.97
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong jettisoned 359.60 points, or 1.1%, to 32,607.29
In Japan, early gains seen in automaker stocks were erased as the session wore on: Toyota finished the session off by 0.2% and Honda declined 0.6%
Technology names closed mostly lower, with heavyweight SoftBank Group falling 1.5% and Sony losing 1.9%. Trading houses and energy-related names also traded in negative territory, although several manufacturing names proved to be bright spots: Komatsu gained 1.7%, while Hitachi Construction Machinery was 7% respectively.
Data released earlier in the day showed that retail sales last month rose 3.6% compared to one year ago, above the 1.8% median projected rise. Retail stocks were lower, with heavyweight Fast Retailing declining 2.3% by the end of the day.
Apple suppliers in the region took a hit following the tech giant's overnight tumble, which came on the back of a Nikkei report about a reported reduction in iPhone X production. In Japan, Japan Display closed lower by 0.8% although Sharp held above the flat line, gaining 0.3% Hong Kong's AAC Technologies and Sunny Optical were down 2.2% and 1.6%, respectively.
Against the yen, the U.S. currency traded at 108.73 after earlier climbing as high as 109.20.
Shares of Wanda Hotel Development surged 26.7%. The move higher came after news that several investors, including Tencent, are preparing to buy a 14% stake in a commercial real estate unit of Dalian Wanda Group
Hong Kong-listed Ping An Insurance announced in a Monday filing that its application to spin off its health care and technology unit had been approved by the Hong Kong Exchange. The company said the application proof of the unit's prospectus will be made available Jan. 30.
Shares of Ping An were off by 0.7%.
Over in Seoul, the Kospi declined as technology stocks traded lower, weighing on the broader index. Blue chip Samsung Electronics sank 2.8% ahead of its earnings report due Wednesday and SK Hynix declined 2.9%.
Australia finished lower, as the heavily-weighted financials sector closed lower by 0.6% and major mining stocks were mostly lower, with BHP falling by 1.3%
Gold producers were mixed after several names reported production numbers for the second quarter. Newcrest Mining declined 1.8% and Evolution Mining reversed early losses to edge up by 0.4% by the end of the day.
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 dropped 45.92 points, or 1.1%, to 4,256.10
The Kospi in Korea withered 30.45 points, or 1.2%, to 2,567.74
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index ailed 145.03 points, or 1.3%, to 11,076.78
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index slumped 28.33 points, or 0.8%, to 3,548.74
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 moved lower 29.01 points, or 0.4%, to 8,298.58
The ASX lost 52.61 points, or 0.9%, to 6,022.80
