China markets drop as stocks in Asia slip

Markets in Asia-Pacific declined Wednesday morning after shares on Wall Street tumbled overnight stateside. Mainland Chinese stocks dropped in morning trade, with the Shanghai composite slipping 1.48% while the Shenzhen component declined 2.638%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed 1.16%.

Chinese inflation data for August released Wednesday showed the producer price index declined 2.0% in August from a year earlier, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics. That was in line with expectations for a 2.0% fall in a Reuters poll. The consumer price index in August rose 2.4% as compared with a year ago, also in line with expectations of analysts in a Reuters poll.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 declined 1.57% while the Topix index fell 1.6%. South Korea’s Kospi also slipped 0.91%. Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 dropped 2.54%. Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan traded 1.24% lower.

The moves regionally came as Investors reacted to overnight declines on Wall Street. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 4.1% to close at 10,847.69. Tuesday’s drop put the tech-heavy Nasdaq down 10% over the past three days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 632.42 points, or 2.3%, to end its trading day at 27,500.89. The S&P 500 slid 2.8% to close at 3,331.84.

Shares of technology stocks in Asia-Pacific mostly dropped, following losses seen by their counterparts stateside. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca said a late-stage trial of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate has been put on hold due to safety concerns. That came following a suspected serious adverse reaction in a participant in the United Kingdom, according to STAT News.

China markets drop as stocks in Asia slip; tech shares decline, CNBC, Sep 9