Chinese stocks declined on Tuesday, tracking other losses in Asia-Pacific markets, as the omicron variant returned to focus. Meanwhile, bitcoin prices continued to tumble after some losses overnight.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 dropped 207.85 points, or 0.7%, to 28,640.49.
The Japanese yen traded at 113.61 per U.S. dollar, weakening from around 113.2 in earlier sessions.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng tumbled 318.63 points, or 1.3%, to 23,635.95. Tech stocks dipped, with Alibaba down almost 2%, Tencent losing 1.5%. JD tumbled 2.5%.
Shares of Chinese social media giant Weibo dropped more than 9%, as China’s cyberspace regulator says it has fined the firm’s operator three million yuan ($471,151 U.S.). Since its trading debut in Hong Kong last week, the stock has lost over 10%.
South Korea markets fell, with tech names in the red. LG Electronics was down 4.1%.
The Australian dollar was at $0.7117, falling back from earlier levels of around $0.713.
CHINA
In China, the CSI 300 slid 34.1 points, or 0.7%, to 5,049.70.
Meanwhile, Chinese telecommunications operator China Mobile announced in a filing that it has received approval from regulators for a secondary listing in Shanghai, for an offering of up to 845.87 million shares.
Caution on the new omicron variant prevailed again as the U.K. confirmed Monday that at least one patient infected with the new omicron variant of COVID-19 has died in the country. China also reported its first omicron case.
In other markets
In Taiwan, the Taiex plummeted 168.23 points, or 1%, to 17,599.37
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index squeezed ahead 1.14 points to 3,121.09
In Korea, the Kospi index stepped back 13.71 points, or 0.5%, to 2,987.95
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 shed 64.6 points, or 0.5%, to 12,959.59
In Australia, the ASX 200 deleted 0.88 points at 7,378.39
