CNBC – UPDATED WED, MAY 24 20234:08 AM EDT
This is CNBC’s live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.
Asia-Pacific markets slid Wednesday, with the Shanghai Composite ending down 1.28% at 3,204.75, its lowest level since Jan 13. The Shenzhen Component closed 0.84% lower at 10,920, erasing all its gains this year to sink to lowest since Dec 23 last year.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index posted a second-straight daily loss, closing down 1.77% at 19,087, while the Hang Seng Tech index shed 2.1%.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 also posted a second-straight daily loss, closing down 0.89% at 30,682.68 and the Topix ended down 0.42% at 2,152.4, even as the country’s business sentiment among manufacturers turned positive for the first time in 2023, according to a Reuters Tankan survey.
South Korea’s Kospi snapped a seven-day winning streak to close flat on the day at 2,567.45, while the Kosdaq ended down 0.43% at 855.46. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.63% at 7,213.8, its lowest closing level since last Wednesday.
New Zealand shares reversed losses, while the New Zealand dollar strengthened against the U.S. dollar after the country’s central bank raised its benchmark policy rate to 5.5%, in line with expectations from economists polled by Reuters. The S&P/NZX 50 Gross Index closed up 0.23% after the move.
The country also saw its retail sales volume fall 4.1% year-on-year in the first quarter, the second straight quarterly contraction following a 4% fall in the quarter ended December.
Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes fell, with the Nasdaq Composite leading losses at 1.26% lower, while the S&P 500 lost 1.12% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.69%.
— CNBC’s Samantha Subin and Alex Harring contributed to this report
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