Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Asian Stocks Lower Across the Board After U.S. Slump

Published 09/03/2020, 10:30 PM
Updated 09/03/2020, 10:32 PM
© Reuters.

© Reuters.

By Alfred Romann

Investing.com – Asian stocks were mostly down on Friday morning, following the lead of U.S. markets, which saw their biggest slump in months, led downward by tech stocks.

There was no single reason for the sharp slump in U.S. markets, with analysts pointing to either increased volatility or the more typical September sell-off for the drop, which was led by some of the biggest names in technology.

“It’s too soon to say whether this is a pause that refreshes or whether this is the beginning of a more meaningful downturn in big tech,” Nancy Prial, co-chief executive at Essex Investment Management told Bloomberg. “Most of these are great companies with really robust growth opportunities, but the stocks are very richly valued.”

Asian markets were set to close off the week by following U.S. markets down.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 1.09% by 10:05 PM ET (2:05 AM GMT) giving up gains from a day earlier. The Nikkei gained 1% on Thursday, which brought it back to its pre-pandemic levels, supported by the bull run in the U.S. and the emergence of Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga as a candidate to succeed outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

China’s Shanghai Composite was down 1.45% while the Shenzhen Component, which is heavier on tech stocks, opened down 1.69%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 1.71%, even as the city moved to relax some social distancing measures, extend dine-in hours at restaurants and allow gyms to reopen from today.

South Korea’s KOSPI was down 1.49%.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 led the down day by falling 2.63%.

In the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 2.78%, the biggest fall since June, while the S&P 500 fell 3.46% and the Nasdaq Composite clocked in a 4.96% fall. The biggest names in technology were also the biggest losers after a weeks-long bull run. Apple (NASDAQ:NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:NASDAQ:MSFT), Amazon (NASDAQ:NASDAQ:AMZN), Facebook (NASDAQ:NASDAQ:FB) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:NASDAQ:GOOGL) all finished Thursday with big losses.

“There has been no obvious catalyst for the move,” wrote Rodrigo Catril of National Australia Bank (OTC:NABZY) in a note. “Now the question is whether the correction has legs or whether investors are tempted back in.”

The stock market losses happened despite jobs data that was better than expected, with the U.S. Department of Labor reporting that initial jobless claims fell to 881,000 for the week to Aug. 28, lower than forecasts of 950,000.

Investors are now looking ahead to July retail sales data from Australia as well as a U.S. jobs report on Friday that is expected to show a rebound in August.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.