Following overnight weakness in U.S. markets, Japan stocks fell on Tuesday for a fifth day in a row, closing at the lowest level in two months, as the yen strengthened against the U.S. dollar.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 364.04 points, or 2.4%, to 14,936.51.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index dropped 95.41 points, or 0.4%, to 23,047.97
Stocks declined across the board, with auto makers and tech exporters losing heavily.
Toyota Motor Corp. skidded 3.9%, Mazda Motor Corp fell 3.7%, and Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and Honda Motor Co., Ltd. both dropped 2%.
The tech sector also took a hard hit, with index heavyweight SoftBank Corp. pulling back 3.1%. Among other losers in the sector, camera maker Olympus Corp. sank 4.4%, electronic giant Sharp Corporation tumbled 4.2%, semiconductor manufacturer Renesas Electronics Corp. lost 3.9%, media conglomerate Sony Corporation declined 3.2%, and electronics maker Panasonic Corporation gave up 3.1%.
Energy shares suffered from the falling international crude prices, with Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K. down 4.4%, Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., Ltd. off 3.2%, and Inpex Corporation lower by 1.1%.
However, Australian stocks advanced, while the Aussie dollar slipped to 87.53 U.S. cents from 87.58 U.S. cents in the previous day.
In other markets;
Shanghai’s CSI 300 index dropped 8.38 points, or 0.3%, to 2,446.56.
The Taiex index in Taiwan added 57 points, or 0.7%, to 8,768.39
Korea’s Kospi index nicked 2.04 points, or 0.1%, higher to 1,929.25.
In Singapore, the Straits Times STI index subtracted 7.75 points, or 0.2%, to 3,194.40
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 slumped 24.16 points, or 0.5%, to 5,145.89
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 moved ahead 51.93 points, or 1%, to 5,207.43
