Asia-Pacific markets saw a broad sell-off, with Australia shares closing at a low not seen in over a year, while mainland China stocks bucked the broader trend to end Thursday higher.
South Korea’s Kospi index slipped 2.71% to close 2,299.08, its lowest level since Jan. 6, while the Kosdaq index shed 3.5% to reach 743.85, its lowest since Jan. 31.
This comes as shares of South Korean chip supplier SK Hynix dropped after announcing a 2.18 trillion won ($1.61 billion) net loss for the third quarter, in contrast to a 1.11 trillion won net profit in the same period a year ago.
South Korea’s gross domestic product grew 0.6% in the third quarter from the prior quarter, a slightly higher-than-expected pace compared to a Reuters poll.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 2.14% to end at 30,601.78 and the Topix index dropped 1.34% to finish at 2,224.25.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.61% down at 6,812.30, hitting its lowest point since late October, 2022.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dipped 0.11% in the final minutes of trading, while China’s benchmark CSI 300 index was the only one in positive territory, climbing 0.28% to 3,514.14.
The S&P 500 closed below a key level on Wednesday after disappointing quarterly results from Google-parent Alphabet and a rebound in interest rates.
The benchmark index fell 1.43% to close at 4,186.77, ending the day below the 4,200 level that was being widely watched by chart analysts. It was the first time the S&P 500 closed below this threshold since May.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 105.45 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 2.43%.
Source : CNBC