Global Markets:
- Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei down 4.35%, Shanghai Composite down 0.57%, Hang Seng down 1.35% ASX down 1.88%
- Commodities : Gold at $2519.35 (-0.19%), Silver at $28.25 (-0.31%), Brent Oil at $73.30 (-0.49%), WTI Oil at $70.12 (-0.48%)
- Rates : US 10-year yield at 3.827, UK 10-year yield at 3.991, Germany 10-year yield at 2.253
News & Data:
- (USD) ISM Manufacturing PMI 47.2 vs 47.5 expected
- (USD) ISM Manufacturing Prices 54.0 vs 52.1 expected
- (USD) Construction Spending m/m -0.3% vs 0.1% expected
Markets Update:
Asia-Pacific markets tumbled on Wednesday, driven by significant declines in Japan’s Nikkei 225 following a sell-off in U.S. tech stocks and weak U.S. economic data that sparked recession fears.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 led the losses in Asia, dropping 4.0%, while the Topix fell 3.55%. Semiconductor stocks were hit particularly hard, with Renesas Electronics plunging 9%, Tokyo Electron falling 8.73%, and Advantest dropping over 7.7%. Softbank Group, which owns chip designer Arm, also declined by 7.8%.
In South Korea, the Kospi fell 3.05%, with the Kosdaq seeing a nearly 3.8% loss. Chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, both Nvidia suppliers, lost 3.59% and 7.72%, respectively.
Taiwan’s Weighted Index dropped 4.46%, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company down 5.21% and Hon Hai Precision Industry, known internationally as Foxconn, falling 3.51%. The index lost as much as 5.29% in early trading before stabilizing.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined almost 2%, mainly due to weak oil prices. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slipped 1.2%, and mainland China’s CSI 300 was down 0.58%. Chinese chip stocks also fell, with Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation down 1.95% and Hua Hong Semiconductor losing 1.06%.
In the U.S., chipmaker Nvidia dropped over 9%, pulling down other chip stocks like Intel, AMD, and Marvell. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) fell 7.5%, its worst day since March 2020. U.S. indexes also suffered, with the Nasdaq Composite down 3.26%, leading the losses.
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