Investing.com – Asian equities slipped in afternoon trade on Tuesday as the U.S. markets fell into correction territory overnight following a fresh sell-off in technology shares.
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) plunged 5.2%, while Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) dived 2.8% and 5.1% respectively.
Reports that China imposed retaliatory tariffs on 128 U.S. products including pork and fruit were also cited as a catalyst for the selling in equities.
Overnight, the Nasdaq fell 2.7%, while the S&P 500 and the Dow traded 2.2% and 1.9% lower respectively.
In China, the Shanghai Composite traded 1.2% lower by 1:11AM ET (05:11GMT) while the Shenzhen Component was down 1.3%. A commentary on the front page of state media People’s Daily caught attention as it said the purpose of the tariffs on U.S. was to “balance the losses” caused by U.S. duties and to protect China’s national interest.
"China does not like trade wars, but being on the side of justice, China has no choice but to enter a war to end a war," Wang Hailou, a researcher at the Chinese commerce ministry's research center, wrote in the commentary.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.9% in afternoon trade. Index heavyweight Tencent Holdings Ltd (HK:0700) lost 1.2%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 0.8%, with the strengthening yen cited as headwind. Reports that U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would meet in Florida in April caught some attention. Japan, one of U.S. closest allies, was not granted exemptions to the steel and aluminum tariffs.
Down under, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.2%. The Reserve Bank of Australia kept its benchmark lending rates unchanged at 1.5% as expected. Gas producer Santos Ltd (AX:STO)’ shares soared as much as 20% earlier in the day after it said it would “engage with” the U.S.-listed Harbour Energy over a unsolicited $10.4 billion takeover bid that values Santos at a 28% premium to its last close.