HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stocks tumbled Wednesday after Wall Street had its worst day since early August, with the heavyweight Nvidia falling 9.5%, resulting in a worldwide decline in chip-related stocks.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 4.2% and closed at 37,047.61, leading losses in Asia. Electronics and semiconductor company Tokyo Electron slumped 8.6% on Wednesday. South Korea’s Kospi was down 3.0% to 2,583.70, with tech giant Samsung Electronics dropping 3.2%. Taiwan’s Taiex lost 4.5%, dragged down by the heavyweight Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, which was 5.4% lower.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 1.9% and ended at 7,950.50 after Wednesday data showed the country’s GDP grew by 1% in comparison with the second quarter of 2023, barely above experts’ forecast. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index declined 1.3% to 17,429.30 and the Shanghai Composite index shed 0.6% to 2,787.20.
U.S. futures were lower. Rising oil supply was driving down prices, as Libya moved closer to resolving a conflict over control of the country’s oil revenue that meant its oil production may soon increase.
Benchmark U.S. crude fell 46 cents to $69.88 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 31 cents to $73.44 a barrel.
Growing worries about China’s economy — the world’s largest importer of crude oil — also amplified doubts about future oil demand, especially after the recent release of weak data, which was dragged down by an actual estate slump and weak consumption.
The S&P 500’s heaviest weight, Nvidia, fell 9.5% on Tuesday. Its stock has been struggling even after the chip company topped high expectations for its latest profit report. The subdued performance could bolster criticism that Nvidia and other Big Tech stocks simply soared too high in Wall Street’s frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology. Global semiconductor-related stocks declined on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 sank 2.1% to present back a piece of the gains from a three-week winning streak that had carried it to the cusp of its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 626 points, or 1.5%, from its own record set on Friday before Monday’s Labor Day holiday. The Nasdaq composite fell 3.3% as Nvidia and other Big Tech stocks led the best way lower.
Treasury yields also stumbled within the bond market after a report showed U.S. manufacturing shrank again in August, sputtering under the burden of high rates of interest. Manufacturing has been contracting for a lot of the past two years, and its performance for August was worse than economists expected.
“Demand stays subdued, as firms show an unwillingness to speculate in capital and inventory on account of current federal monetary policy and election uncertainty,” said Timothy Fiore, chair of the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing business survey committee.
Other reports due later this week could show how much help the economy needs, including updates on the variety of job openings U.S. employers were promoting at the tip of July and the way much U.S. services businesses grew last month. The week’s highlight will likely arrive on Friday, when a report will show what number of jobs U.S. employers created during August.
All told, the S&P 500 fell 119.47 points to five,528.93. The Dow dropped 626.15 to 40,936.93, and the Nasdaq composite sank 577.33 to 17,136.30.
Within the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to three.84% from 3.91% late Friday. That’s down from 4.70% in late April, a major move for the bond market.
In currency dealing, the U.S. dollar was trading at 145.11 Japanese yen from 145.47 yen. The euro cost $1.1054, up from $1.1043.