Asian stocks tracked lower on Thursday, taking cues from the losses seen on Wall Street overnight as financial and technology stocks weighed on U.S. markets.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 declined 0.66 percent amid broad-based weakness. Losses were led by the energy sector, with the Topix oil and coal products subindex down 1.62 percent after energy shares popped in the last session. Airline names continued their descent, while automakers proved to be a bright spot, with Toyota up 0.57 percent.
Over in Seoul, the Kospi saw a similar level of losses, with the index trading lower by 0.65 percent in morning trade. Technology stocks struggled, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix down 2.19 percent and 2.82 percent, respectively, despite the former settling a dispute with Apple over patents.
Down Under, the S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.22 percent, with most sectors in negative territory. The energy subindex, however, rose 1.26 percent, extending gains made in the last session on the back of the recent climb in oil prices.
Markets in Vietnam are closed on Thursday.
Regional markets tracked losses seen stateside after U.S. markets closed lower on Wednesday, with drops in the financials and technology sectors dragging major indexes there lower. The 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.58 percent, or 165.52 points, to close at 24,117.59.
Earlier, the Dow had risen almost 286 points after U.S. plans to target foreign investment turned out less restrictive than initially thought, although markets lost steam throughout the session. Stocks had gained on news that the U.S. government will use the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States review process to address concerns over foreign acquisitions of U.S. technologies.
The development is seen as softer than plans floated earlier that would have targeted China more specifically.
Still, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC on Wednesday that the U.S. will be able to block joint ventures if technology transfer is involved. Meanwhile, White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said the Trump administration’s stance on China should not be regarded as a softened one.
On the energy front, oil prices pared some gains after advancing on Wednesday. U.S. crude futures slipped 0.41 percent to trade at $72.46 per barrel after settling more than 3 percent higher in the last session. Brent crude futures edged down by 0.28 percent to $77.40.
The surge in prices overnight came amid concerns over supply: U.S. crude stockpiles dropped by almost 10 million barrels last week, which was a larger-than-expected fall, while supply disruptions in Canada and Libya remained in focus.
In currencies, the dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies, traded at 95.264. The greenback gave up some of its overnight gains against the yen to trade at 110.17 at 8:10 a.m. HK/SIN, compared to levels around the 110.2 handle seen in the last session.
On the economic front, Indonesia’s central bank begins a two-day meeting on Thursday and is expected to announce its interest rate decision on Friday.
