Asian stocks fall as tech stocks pull benchmarks lower
A currency trader walks near screens showing exchange rates at a foreign exchange trading floor in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. Asian stocks were mostly down on Tuesday, stock losses related to technology that weighed on global benchmarks. .(AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
PA
TOKYO
Asian stocks were mostly down on Tuesday as losses in tech-related stocks weighed on global benchmarks.
Taiwan fell 4.4% after reopening after a public holiday in the first trading session since the United States imposed new limits on exports of semiconductors and chipmaking equipment to China . TMSC, the world’s largest chipmaker, plunged 8.3%.
The Japanese Nikkei 225 fell 2.6% to 26,401.25. South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.8% to 2,192.07. Both markets also reopened after the holidays on Monday.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 2.2% to 16,830.73.
The Shanghai Composite gained 0.2% to 2,979.79, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.3% to 6,645.00.
“The Japanese and South Korean markets are catching up on earlier global market losses, with their exposure to the tech sector spurring a greater magnitude of selling as evidenced by Wall Street,” Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG in Singapore, said. said in a report.
In encouraging news, Japan reopened to generally unrestricted tourism on Tuesday after more than two years of COVID-19 restrictions. Pent-up travel spending could help lift the world’s third-largest economy as it grapples with slowing global growth and inflation.
But tech stocks were hit hard by the announcement of tougher export controls on semiconductors and chipmaking equipment. The restrictions are intended to limit China’s ability to obtain advanced computer chips, develop and maintain supercomputers, and manufacture advanced semiconductors.
In China, tech stocks were hit by a rally in selling after steep losses on Monday. Chip equipment maker Naura Technology fell 10% and Hwatsing Technology fell 12.2%.
The Japanese group Sony lost 4.1% while Renasas lost 5.7%.
On Wall Street on Monday, Qualcomm Inc. lost 5.2% and Broadcom Inc. fell 5%. Applied Materials lost 4.1% while Lam Research Corp. fell 6.4%.
The benchmark S&P 500 fell 0.7%, closing at 3,612.39 and extending its losing streak to a fourth day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.3% to 29,202.88 and the Nasdaq composite fell 1% to 10,542.10. The Russell 2000 fell 0.6% to 1,691.92.
US bond trading was closed.
Wall Street was troubled by concerns over stubbornly high inflation and the Federal Reserve’s plan to rein in high prices by raising interest rates. The aim is to slow economic growth and cool both borrowing and spending to control inflation, but the plan risks sending the economy into recession.
Investors will potentially get a more detailed picture of Fed thinking on Wednesday when the central bank releases minutes from its latest policy meeting. That’s when the Fed made another very large interest rate hike of three-quarters of a percentage point.
The closely watched consumer prices report will be released on Thursday and a retail sales report is due on Friday.
This week also brings the latest round of corporate earnings reports, which could provide a clearer picture of the impact of high prices on revenue and earnings and what is expected for the rest of the year and even until 2023.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.23 to $89.90 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. US crude oil fell 1.6% on Monday. Brent crude, the international price standard, fell $1.09 to $95.10 a barrel.
In currency trading, the US dollar slipped to 145.63 Japanese yen from 145.75 yen. The euro cost 96.97 cents, down from 97.04 cents.
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Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
