Asian markets deepen into red as global sell-off continues

Asian stock market indexes extended previous session losses on Tuesday, following a second straight weak close in Wall Street as the global sell-off continued to weigh on sentiment.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index dropped more than six percent, with automakers, financials and technology contributing the most to the downturn.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 3.65 percent, with energy-related names posting strong losses in the light of a stronger US dollar.

The South Korean Kospi also plunged, with Samsung Electronics taking a two percent hit, although Hyundai Motor was able to end in green territory.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index saw an almost five percent draw in the session with heavyweight financials such as HSBC and China Construction Bank down 3.14 and 6.55 percent respectively. The Shanghai composite eased 2.15 percent.

On Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 1,175.21 points to 24,345.75. The S&P 500 loss 4.1 percent to 2,648.94, while the Nasdaq composite fell 3.8 percent to 6,967.53.

On the data front, Markit Economics released its composite PMI for January in the United States, along with services PMI, both below forecast at 53.8 and 53.3 respectively.

Later on, the Institute for Supply Management said its non-manufacturing PMI for January outperformed its estimation at 59.9 from a 56.5 reading seen.

In Europe, Markit’s services PMI for January rose to 57.3 from a prior 57.0 reading. In the Eurozone, activity in the services sector was also better-than-expected, displaying a move to 58.0 points from a prior 57.6 points.

EU retail sales for December came in line with expectations at minus 1.1 percent.

<<< Asian Stock Indexes at 07:50 GMT >>>

Australia ASX S&P -198.20 -3.23% 5,930.20

Shanghai Composite -113.04 -3.24% 3,374.46

Hong Kong Hang Seng -1,422.03 -4.41% 30,823.19

Japan Nikkei 225 -1,071.84 -4.73% 21,610.24

Taiwan TSEC 50 Index -542.25 -4.95% 10,404.00

<<< Next in Europe >>>

Ahead in today’s session, traders will keep an eye on German factory orders for December at 07:00 GMT and a speech by Buba President Weidmann as of 09:00 GMT.

<<< Next in the United States >>>

Investors will be monitoring US trade balance for December at 13:30 GMT, with a $52.10 billion deficit seen, and JOLTs job openings as of 15:00 GMT, with 5.9 million openings eyed.

Fort Financial Services