Nikkei 225 declined 2.7% to 38,118.49, S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1.1% to 7,876.60, Kospi shed 1.9% to 2,705.41, Hang Seng declined 1.2% to 17,101.45, while the Shanghai Composite dropped 0.8% to 2,879.78
Asian shares were down in Thursday morning trading, with Tokyo’s benchmark losing more than 1,000 points at one point, after Wall Street dropped.
U.S. stock indexes suffered their worst losses since 2022 after profit reports from Tesla and Alphabet helped suck momentum from Wall Street’s frenzy around AI technology.
In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 declined 2.7% in early trading to 38,118.49. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1.1% to 7,876.60. South Korea’s Kospi shed 1.9% to 2,705.41. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 1.2% to 17,101.45, while the Shanghai Composite dropped 0.8% to 2,879.78.
Among the region’s technology shares, Samsung Electronics declined 2%, while Nintendo was down almost 2%. Tokyo Electron dropped almost 5%.
Profit expectations are high for U.S. companies broadly, but particularly so for the small group of stocks known as the “Magnificent Seven.” Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla need to keep delivering powerful growth after being responsible for most of the S&P 500’s run to records this year.
The negative sentiment was exacerbated by disappointing earnings from Google and Tesla, ahead of other key reports from the ‘Magnificent Seven’ in the upcoming weeks. The tech sector could be under heavy pressure in Asia today, according to Anderson Alves at ActivTrades.
The recently strengthening yen, which has recovered from trading above 160 Japanese yen to the dollar earlier this month, also works as a negative for some Japanese firms, dominated by exporters.
Toyota Motor Corp. shares declined 2% in morning trading, while Sony Group dipped 4%.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar dropped to 152.80 yen from 153.89 yen. The euro cost $1.0844, little changed from $1.0841.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 shed 2.3% for its fifth drop in the last six days, closing at 5,427.13. The Dow Jones Industrial Average stumbled 1.2% to 39,853.87, and the Nasdaq composite declined 3.6% to 17,342.41.
