Nikkei tumbles, China stocks find strength following tech losses on Wall Street
November 13, 2018 @ 14:48 +03:00
Asian stock markets saw volatile trading Tuesday following Monday’s rout, led by tech stocks, on Wall Street. Every sector in Japan’s stock market turned lower as the Nikkei NIK, -2.06% dropped more than 2%. Investors were quick to react to the U.S. losses, especially among suppliers linked to Apple’s AAPL, -5.04% iPhone. TDK 6762, -6.27% and Murata 6981, -4.76% were down about 7% and 5%, respectively. Meanwhile, SoftBank 9984, +1.87% rose 2%, making up an early 4% loss, following its after-the-bell update on the planned IPO for its Japanese mobile unit. Japanese auto companies also fell after reports that the Trump administration is planning tariffs on auto imports, with Toyota 7203, -2.44% and Honda 7267, -2.19% down over 2% each.
Bucking an earlier sharper drop, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.62% fell 0.2%, with energy stocks weak given oil’s sharp reversal, with CNOOC 0883, -3.06% falling 4%. Mainland China stocks fared better, with the Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, +0.93% managing a gain of nearly 2% and the smaller-cap Shenzhen Composite 399106, +1.63% about flat. Still, iPhone component suppliers Secote Precision 603283, -1.15% and Luxshare 002475, -1.85% were down some 2% each.
Benchmark indexes in South Korea SEU, -0.44% and Taiwan Y9999, -0.56% dropped roughly 0.5% each, weighed down by tech names. Samsung 005930, -1.55% fell almost 2% and SK Hynix 000660, -3.49% plummeted 3.6% while Taiwan Semiconductor 2330, -1.73% was off 1.7%.