Investing.com - Asian markets extended losses in afternoon trade on Tuesday and erased gains made in the previous two sessions. Singapore’s September core inflation gauge received some focus as it missed analysts’ expectations.
The country’s inflation was down to 1.8% from a year earlier, official data showed on Tuesday, compared to the expected 1.9%.
Asian stocks were under pressure amid continuing U.S.-China trade dispute, recent tension surrounding the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and worries over the Italian budget.
China’s Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component declined 1.3% and 1.6% respectively by 1:30 AM ET (05:30 GMT).
Chinese stocks surged 4.1% on Monday and 2.6% on Friday after President Xi Jinping offered support to the country’s private sector. On Monday, The State Council also said it would support bond financing by private firms, adding that the People’s Bank of China will provide funding to facilitate this, although the central bank did not provide any details of the size of the plan or a timeline at the moment.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slid 2.4%. China’s property giant Evergrande Real Estate Group Ltd (HK:3333) is reportedly in talks with financial institutions to raise $1.5 billion in October by offering its Hong Kong office tower as collateral, according to Reuters, citing two sources with knowledge of the matter.
Evergrande’s shares slumped 4.33% to HK19.02 on Tuesday morning on the news.
The company is said to be planning to use the funds raised from financing the tower to pay back its offshore debts, which amounted to $16.4 billion as of the end of June, and to make dividend payments.
Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s KOSPI both declined 2.8% in afternoon trade.
Down under, Australia’s ASX 200 fell 1.1%.