Asian markets traded lower on Wednesday, mirroring Wall Street’s tech-led declines, as investors digested weak Japanese trade data and China’s latest policy decision.
Japan’s exports fell 2.6% year-on-year in July, marking their steepest drop in more than four years and a sharper contraction than the 2.1% forecast. The Nikkei 225 slid 0.93% while the Topix eased 0.31%. Shares in SoftBank Group tumbled over 9% after the firm’s $2 billion investment in Intel sparked a selloff, despite Intel’s US-listed shares gaining nearly 7% overnight.
Elsewhere in the region, South Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.52% and the Kosdaq slipped 1.77%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.24% lower. In Greater China, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed 0.71% and the mainland’s CSI 300 fell 0.48% after the People’s Bank of China kept its loan prime rates unchanged for a third consecutive month. Taiwan’s Taiex underperformed with losses of more than 2%.
One bright spot came from Chinese toymaker Pop Mart, whose shares surged more than 8% after reporting a near 400% jump in net profit, driven by strong global demand for its Labubu dolls. The stock had initially opened lower before reversing sharply higher.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 closed down 0.59% at 6,411.37, pressured by losses in Nvidia and other tech names. The Nasdaq Composite shed 1.46% to 21,314.95, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished nearly flat, up 0.02%, after touching a record intraday high.
