Asian indexes tumbled early on Tuesday, mirroring massive losses seen stateside in the last session when the Dow fell more than 1,100 points and the S&P saw its worst day in six years.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 4.67 percent in the early going as stocks across sectors pulled back. Automakers, financials and technology names were lower in the morning, with Toyota down 3.55 percent.
Among other blue chips, SoftBank Group tumbled 5.07 percent and Fanuc Manufacturing lost 4.74 percent. Fast Retailing sank 4.21 percent.
Across the Korean Strait, the Kospi declined 2.26 percent. Blue chip technology names were lower, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix down 1.63 percent and 1.71 percent early in the session. Among automakers, Hyundai Motor traded briefly in positive territory, but later slipped 0.31 percent.
Down Under, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 2.98 percent on broad-based selling across sectors. The energy sub-index was among the worst-performing in the morning, falling 3.69 percent as energy-related stocks declined following oil prices’ move lower overnight. Santos fell 4.92 percent and Oil Search lost 3.06 percent.
The heavily weighted financials sector was also sharply lower, with Australia’s “Big Four” banks trading in negative territory on the day. ANZ was down 3.04 percent and Westpac tumbled 3.58 percent.
The sell off in U.S. stock markets on Monday was a continuation of Friday’s weakness as investors rushed for the exits in the wake of rising interest rates.
The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 1,175.21 points, or 4.6 percent, to close at 24,345.75, breaking below the 25,000 level. The 30-stock index briefly declined more than 1,500 points on Monday and traveled more than 5,100 points during the session.
Other major indexes also recorded losses on the day: The S&P 500 lost 4.1 percent to finish at 2,468.94 and the Nasdaq composite fell 3.78 percent to finish the session at 6,967.53.
“There was no specific catalyst outside of stops being triggered at 25,000 and when that happened, the Dow briefly plunged below 24,000, but concerns about the negative impact of rising yields have been the primary driver of the sell-off that began on Friday,” Kathy Lien, managing director of FX strategy at BK Asset Management, said in a note.
Correspondingly, U.S. government bond prices rose overnight on safe-haven demand. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note last stood at 2.7093 percent after rising as high as 2.88 percent on Monday.
In currencies, the dollar index, which tracks the U.S. currency against a basket of rivals, stood at 89.657. Against the yen, the greenback paused to trade at 109.15, after falling as low as 108.98 overnight.
The Australian dollar was a touch softer at $0.7868.
On the energy front, oil prices were lower on Monday as the dollar firmed. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude declined 1.99 percent to settle at $64.15 per barrel and Brent crude futures lost 1.4 percent to settle at $67.62.
Here’s the economic calendar for Tuesday (all times in HK/SIN):
- 9:00 a.m.: Philippines inflation rate
- 11:30 a.m.: Reserve Bank of Australia interest rate decision
- 4:00 p.m.: Taiwan inflation rate
— CNBC’s Fred Imbert contributed to this report.
