Nikkei 225 was 3.19 per cent lower, the Topix was down 2.79 per cent, Kospi stumbled 2.17 per cent, Kosdaq declined 3 per cent, Taiwan Weighted Index slid 3.49 per cent, S&P/ASX 200 sank nearly 1.70 per cent, Hang Seng index pulled back 1.5 per cent, while the mainland Chinese CSI 300 was down 0.47 per cent
Asia-Pacific markets slumped on Wednesday, led by Japan’s Nikkei 225 after U.S. tech stocks sold off and soft U.S. economic data triggered recession concerns.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was 3.19 per cent lower, leading losses in Asia, while the broad based Topix was down 2.79 per cent.
Semiconductor related stocks such as Renesas Electronics plummeted 8 per cent, making it the biggest loser on the index. Tokyo Electron skidded 7.04 per cent, while Advantest slipped more than 7.7 per cent.
Softbank Group, which owns chip designer Arm, declined more than 5.9 per cent. Arm designs chips for Nvidia.
South Korea’s Kospi stumbled 2.17 per cent, as well as the small cap Kosdaq, which saw a almost 3 per cent loss.
Chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix — both Nvidia suppliers — dipped 2.62 per cent and 6.36 per cent respectively.
The Taiwan Weighted Index slid 3.49 per cent, with heavyweights Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company 3.56 per cent lower and Hon Hai Precision Industry — known internationally as Foxconn — plunging more than 3.51 per cent. The index dipped 5.29 per cent in early trade, before recuperating to current levels.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 sank nearly 1.70 per cent, mainly dragged by a weakness in oil prices. The country’s second quarter GDP rose by 1 per cent year-on-year, on par with expectations, and 0.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index saw the smallest loss in the region, pulling back 1.5 per cent, while the mainland Chinese CSI 300 was 0.47 per cent lower.
Chinese chip stocks also suffered some weakness despite these being unrelated to Nvidia’s supply chain, with state-linked Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation down 1.95 per cent and Hua Hong Semiconductor losing 1.06 per cent.
Separately, the Caixin services PMI for August showed that China’s service sector grew at a slower rate compared to July, with the PMI declining to 51.6 from 52.1.
