Asia markets fell sharply almost across the board on Wednesday as the main index in Japan lost nearly 2 percent.
The session in Asia followed overnight declines in U.S. stocks, where the S&P 500 posted its first three-day losing streak since August.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 445.34 points, or 1.97 percent, to 22,177.04. The Topix index declined 25.55 points, or 1.43 percent, to 1,765.42. Reuters reported that the Nikkei had its biggest percentage drop since late march.
Across the Korean Strait, the Kospi slipped 35.75 points, or 1.42 percent, to 2,474.37.
Australia’s ASX 200 closed down 26.11 points, or 0.44 percent, at 5,945.7 as the materials and energy sectors fell 1.66 percent and 1.57 percent, respectively.
Major miners closed lower: Shares of Rio Tinto fell 2.47 percent, Fortescue Metal was down 1.29 percent and BHP lost 1.98 percent. Other miners also fell, with South32 shares sliding 4.14 percent.
Also of note for traders: Copper futures in Shanghai fell 3.1 percent in afternoon trade, tracking declines in London prices - in the early hours of the Asian trading day, copper prices in London were down some 4.31 percent. Some traders attributed the decline to profit taking in the market.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell 620.74 points, or 2.15 percent, to 28,222.06. Chinese mainland markets reversed some of their losses to close mixed. The Shanghai composite fell 9.54 points, or 0.29 percent, to 3,294.12 and the Shenzhen composite advanced 12.66 points, or 0.67 percent, to 1,879.65.
“Risk appetite continued to wane into mid-week, with major Wall Street indices shedding more gains,” analysts at Singapore’s OCBC Bank wrote in a morning note. “For now ... market-watchers appear to remain cautious in view of further uncertainties over the outcome of the Brexit talks and Friday’s potential partial U.S. government shutdown should negotiations fail.”
Shares of Samsung Heavy Industries plunged and finish a whopping 28.89 percent lower. The company had said it was planning a 1.5 trillion Korean won ($1.38 billion) rights offering by May 2018, according to Reuters. The rights issue was aimed at improving the company’s financial structure and to allocate new shares to existing shareholders, the wire service reported.
Reuters also reported that the company said in a regulatory filing that it expected an operating loss of 240 billion won ($220 million) next year, from a loss of 490 billion this year. Asia Stock Market News
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