Investing.com – Asian equities extended their losses in afternoon trade on Wednesday as technology shares continued to slump globally.
Facebook’s shares continued to slump amid the data breach scandal while NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) suspended its self-driving tests after an Uber autonomous vehicle killed a woman.
Meanwhile, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) shed more than 8% as a fatal crash of a Tesla Model X in California last week has prompted a federal field investigation.
Overnight, the Dow slumped 1.4%, the S&P 500 lost 1.7% and the Nasdaq dropped 2.9%.
The Shanghai Composite and the SZSE Component dived deeper into the red and plunged 1.2% and 1.4% respectively by 2:15AM ET (06:15GMT). Reports that China would soon announce a list of retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports were cited as a catalyst for the selling in equities, as trade tensions between the two countries intensified following the news.
The news came after the U.S. announcement of an upcoming crackdown on Chinese investments in technologies due to violations of intellectual-property rights.
Meanwhile, China confirmed that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met with president Xi Jinping, local media Xinhua reported Wednesday, adding that Kim said he would be willing to give up nuclear weapons and hold a summit with the U.S.
It was Kim’s first known visit outside the country. He is due to have a summit with his South Korean counterpart in April and U.S. President Trump by the end of May, according to reports earlier this year.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.6%. Chinese automaker BYD Co(HK:1211)’s stock fell 8.9% after the company reported its first-quarter profit fell sharply amid subsidy cuts. Index heavyweight Tencent Holdings Ltd (HK:0700)’s shares dropped 2.6% as Nomura cut its target price.
In Japan, the yen declined amid signs of an improving geopolitical situation with North Korea. Impact on equities seemed to be limited though, as the Nikkei lost 1.3% at the close. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said there was not change to his plan to raise the country’s sales tax next year.
"If the economy is hit by a shock on the magnitude of the Lehman crisis, we need to reconsider. Otherwise, we will proceed with the scheduled sales tax hike," said Abe.
Elsewhere, reports that South Korea has agreed to double to 50,000 the number of cars each U.S. automaker can sell in the Asian nation made headlines, as it marked Trump’s first revamp of a U.S. trade deal.
Down under, Australia-listed Rio Tinto Ltd (AX:RIO) quit coal business as the miner sold its last coal mine for $2.25 billion on Tuesday.