Markets in Asia-Pacific declined Wednesday, with technology shares regionally mostly seeing losses.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 dropped 241.59 points, or 1%, to 23,032.54.
The Japanese yen traded at 105.98 per U.S. dollar after an earlier high of 105.76 against the greenback.
Shares of Japanese conglomerate Softbank Group fell 2.87%. The stock has plunged more than 10% since its Friday close after a Financial Times report identified the firm as the "NASDAQ whale" that bought billions of dollars in technology company stock options over the past month.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng retreated 155.41 points, or 0.6%, to 24,468.93.
Elsewhere, similar losses were also seen. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company saw its stock in Taiwan decline 0.9%. Over in South Korea, SK Hynix shares slipped 2.6%. In Hong Kong, shares of Chinese tech giant Alibaba dropped 2.4% while Xiaomi fell 1.3%. Sunny Optical, however, rose 0.9%.
Over in Australia, markets also saw sizable losses, with shares of the country’s major banks such as Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac falling.
The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7232 after falling from levels above $0.726 yesterday.
CHINA
The CSI 300 subtracted 109.8 points, or 2.3%, to 4,584.69.
Chinese inflation data for August released Wednesday showed the producer price index declined 2.0% in August from a year earlier, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics. That was in line with expectations for a 2.0% fall. The consumer price index in August rose 2.4% as compared with a year ago, also in line with expectations of analysts.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index wilted 5.43 points, or 0.2%, to 2.499.33.
In Korea, the Kospi let go of 26.1 points, or 1.1%, to 2,375.81.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index slumped 54.98 points, or 0.4%, to 12,608.58.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 stepped back 156.52 points, or 1.3%, to 11,739.11.
In Australia, the ASX 200 skidded 129.21 points, or 2.2%, to 5,878.63.
