In this photo taken on Nov. 4, 2019, a subway train crosses a railway bridge over the Han River, before the skyline of Seoul’s Yeouido business district.
Ed Jones | Afp | Getty Images
of Japan Nikkei 225 extended its six-day losing streak to a 3% plunge, leading losses among Asian indexes as the region experienced broad-based selling after Wall Street fell overnight.
Nikkei heavyweight SoftBank Group broke nose 7%, while Renesas Electronics led to losses in the index, down more than 14%. The broader Topix fell 2.24%.
The yen it also posted a fourth consecutive day of strength against the US dollar, hitting an 11-week low of 152.28 against the greenback.
Reuters reported that the Bank of Japan is expected to discuss an interest rate hike at next week’s monetary policy meeting on July 30 and 31, as well as detail a plan to halve its bond buying.
Separately, a Japanese government committee agreed to increase the average minimum hourly wage in the country is 1,054 yen ($6.90), or 5 percent, NHK reported.
Higher wages give the Bank of Japan more room to consider raising interest rates as it moves into a “virtuous cycle” of rising prices and wages.
Investors also weighed in on South Korea’s second-quarter GDP growth numbers, which came in slightly below expectations.
South Korea’s GDP rose 2.3 percent year-on-year, lower than the 2.5 percent expected by economists in a Reuters poll. On a quarterly basis, the country’s economy shrank 0.2 percent, compared with a 0.1 percent rise expected in a Reuters poll and a reversal from the 1.3 percent growth seen in the first quarter.
of South Korea Kospi lost 1.8%, while the Kosdaq fell 2.32%. The index was dragged down by heavyweight SK Hynix, which also fell 6%.
This comes as the company reported a all-time high quarterly revenue 16.42 trillion won ($11.85 billion) for the second quarter, up 125% from a year ago.
Operating profit reached 5.47 trillion won, the highest in six years. Net profit was 4.12 billion won. Both metrics reversed from loss positions in the same period last year.
Hong Kong Hang Seng Index slipped 1.65%, while China’s CSI 300 fell 0.98%.
central bank of China cut the medium-term lending rate to 2.3% from 2.5%, its latest move to stimulate the economy after cutting its key lending rates on Monday.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was 0.94% lower.
Taiwan market will remain closed for a second day, as the island prepares for Typhoon Gaemi.
In the US, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite saw their worst days since 2022.
The broad market index lost 2.31% to close at 5,427.13 points, while the Nasdaq technology index fell 3.64% to close at 17,342.41 points. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 504.22 points, or 1.25%, to close at 39,853.87.
Technology names sold off, including Nvidia and Meta Platforms, which lost 6.8% and 5.6% respectively. Shares in Alphabet — the parent company of Google — fell 5% for their biggest one-day drop since Jan. 31.
Meanwhile, Tesla shares fell 12.3% – their worst day since 2020 – on weaker-than-expected results and a 7% year-over-year drop in auto revenue.
—CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report.
