Asian markets extend losses after dismal session on Wall St

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index lost 0.9 per cent to 22,419.88 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong slumped 1.6 per cent to 28,389.35. (Photo by Allan Ajifo [CC BY 2.0)

KEEPING SCORE: Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index lost 0.9 per cent to 22,419.88 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong slumped 1.6 per cent to 28,389.35. The Shanghai Composite index skidded 0.7 per cent to 3,279.59 while South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.6 per cent to 2,494.68. The S&P ASX 200 in Australia fell 0.4 per cent to 5,951.10. Shares were mostly lower in Southeast Asia.

WALL STREET: Technology stocks recovered but then lost momentum on Tuesday, as losses for telecom stocks and utilities helped cement the S&P 500’s longest losing streak in nearly four months. The S&P 500 fell 0.4 per cent to 2,629.57. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.5 per cent to 24,180.64, and the Nasdaq composite declined 0.2 per cent to 6,762.21. Losers outnumbered winners on the New York Stock Exchange by nearly two to one.

ANALYST’S TAKE: “The sell-off into Tuesday’s U.S. session provides weak leads for Asian markets midweek and futures have certainly pointed us in the direction of further pressure for the region,” Jingyi Pan of IG said in a commentary.

CURRENCIES: The dollar slipped to 112.23 Japanese yen from 112.60 yen late Tuesday. The euro rose to $1.1831 from $1.1825, and the British pound fell to $1.3442 from $1.3444.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude gave up 24 cents to $57.38 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It rose 15 cents to settle at $57.62 per barrel on Tuesday. Brent crude, the international standard, shed 24 cents to $62.62 a barrel in London.