Asian stock markets lost ground in early trading Monday following Friday’s regional bounce that eased last week’s pain. Japan’s Nikkei fell more than 1% following its worst week in right months, while indexes in Hong Kong and Taiwan also dropped more than 1%.
Defensive stocks were down early in Japan. Near session lows in the early going, the Nikkei
NIK, -1.39%
was last down 1.3%. The financial sector was hit particularly hard, with Mitsubishi UFJ
8306, -2.07%
and Mizuho Financial
8411, -1.60%
down around 2%. Sharp losses were also felt by Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing
9983, -4.53%
and electronics giant Sharp
6753, -1.92%
. SoftBank
9984, -5.47%
tumbled more than 5% over worries about its close investment ties to the Saudi government in the wake of a journalist’s disappearance. That came as the yen
USDJPY, -0.09%
was near session highs, with the dollar easing to ¥112.16 from about ¥112.25 earlier.
Hong Kong stocks also slid following Friday’s bounce. The Hang Seng
HSI, -1.01%
was off about 1%, led by tech declines. Tencent
0700, -2.57%
dropped 2.5% and smartphone-component maker AAC Tech
2018, -5.07%
fell more than 4%.
Markets in mainland China were mixed, with the Shanghai Composite
SHCOMP, -0.62%
down 0.3% but the smaller-cap Shenzhen Composite
399106, -0.16%
up 0.4%.
Tech stocks also weighed in Taiwan’s Taiex
Y9999, -1.22%
, as Taiwan Semiconductor
2330, -2.11%
declined more than 2%. South Korea’s Kospi
SEU, -0.44%
was down 0.3%, with index heavyweights Samsung
005930, -0.80%
and SK Hynix
000660, -2.49%
sinking.
Australia’s ASX 200
XJO, -1.12%
was down more than 1%, with financials and materials dragging down the market. Commonwealth Bank of Australia
CBA, -2.01%
, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group
ANZ, -1.85%
and Westpac Banking
WBC, -1.42%
were all down more than 1%, while mining giants Rio Tinto
RIO, -0.94%
and BHP Billiton
BHP, -1.52%
fell around 1.5%. New Zealand’s benchmark
NZ50GR, +0.04%
was about flat after its worst week in 8½ years.
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Source : MTV