Asian Stocks Dragged Down By US Tech Stocks

Asian stocks slid, pushing the regional index down the most in three weeks, while emerging-market and commodity currencies weakened as a renewed selloff in U.S. technology shares cut demand for riskier assets. Nickel extended its longest rally since 2010.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index sank 1 percent by 9:54 a.m. in Tokyo, its biggest drop since March 20. Fast Retailing Co. drove a 2.6 percent tumble in Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average, which is headed for the steepest weekly drop among developed markets. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures rose 0.1 percent. The yen held gains as peers from Australia to Malaysia weakened. The lira depreciated as Moody’s Investors Service cut Turkey’s credit outlook. Nickel climbed a 10th day while copper dropped.

The biggest winners of the U.S. bull market took a renewed hit in New York, as the Nasdaq Composite Index slid the most since 2011 with earnings season under way. China is projected to report faster inflation today and a drop in producer prices after posting unexpected trade declines yesterday amid concern over the outlook for Asia’s largest economy. The Bank of Japan issued minutes of its March meeting today, while India is expected to report faster growth in factory output for February.

Bloomberg

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Mingze Wu

Mingze Wu

Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Based in Singapore, Mingze Wu focuses on trading strategies and technical and fundamental analysis of major currency pairs. He has extensive trading experience across different asset classes and is well-versed in global market fundamentals. In addition to contributing articles to MarketPulseFX, Mingze centers on forex and macro-economic trends impacting the Asia Pacific region.
Mingze Wu