Asia-Pacific markets slid Friday, tracking losses on Wall Street, as technology stocks continued to come under pressure and Fed rate-cut doubts swirled.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 dumped 905.30 points, or 1.8%, to 50,376.53.
Japanese giant SoftBank plunged nearly 9% in early trading, marking its third consecutive day of decline after it said Tuesday it had sold its entire stake in Nvidia. Shares of the conglomerate closed 6.57% lower.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng let go of 500.57 points, or 1.9%, to 26,572.46.
Korean markets tanked, as index heavyweight Samsung Electronics slipped more than 3%, while SK Hynix, which supplies memory chips to Nvidia, fell 5%.
The South Korean won strengthened 0.72% to 1,460.0 against the U.S. dollar after the finance minister said Friday that the country’s FX authorities will consult major market players, including the national pension fund and key exporters, on ways to stabilize the won, Reuters reported.
According to the report, Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol told senior economic officials that steps were needed to tackle the structural mismatch in U.S. dollar supply and demand, amid growing concerns over currency market volatility.
CHINA
The CSI 300 in Shanghai fell 73.93 points, or 1.6%, to 4,628.14, after government data Friday showed China’s slowdown worsened in October, dragged by soft consumer demand and a deepening property downturn.
Fixed-asset investment, which includes real estate, contracted 1.7% for the first ten months of the year, steepening from a 0.5% decline in the January-to-September period. Industrial output expanded 4.9% year on year in October, missing expectations for a 5.5% jump and slowing down from a 6.5% rise in the prior month.
Retail sales climbed 2.9% in October from a year earlier, topping expectations for a 2.8% growth in a Reuters poll, but softening from a 3% year-on-year rise in September.
The Chinese onshore yuan rose to a one-year high of 7.0908 against the dollar, data from LSEG showed.
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi slumped 159.06 points, or 3.8%, to 4,011.57
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index subtracted 29.84 points, or 0.7%, to 4,546.07
In Taiwan, the Taiex dropped 506.06 points, or 1.8%, to 27,397.50
In Australia, the ASX 200 lost 118.23 points, or 1.4%, to 8,634.52
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 retreated 133.41 points, or 1%, to 13,464.46
