Asia markets slip after Wall St losses

A businessman passes before a share prices board in Tokyo. Japan’s share prices closed down 424.06 points at 14,033.45 yesterday.

AFP/Tokyo

Asian markets fell yesterday with a stronger yen sending Tokyo tumbling after a long weekend, while a sell-off on Wall Street and tensions in Ukraine added to downward pressure.

Investors are awaiting the congressional testimony of US Federal Reserve head Janet Yellen to see if she gives any clues about the state of the economy.

Tokyo—which was closed on Monday and Tuesday for holidays—ended 2.93% lower, giving up 424.06 points to 14,033.45 and Sydney slipped 0.83%, or 45.6 points, to 5,435.8.

Seoul fell 1.00%, or 19.56 points, to 1,939.88, while Shanghai dropped 0.89%, or 17.96 points, to 2,010.08 and Hong Kong sank 1.05%, or 230.07 points, to 21,746.26.

In other markets, Bangkok slipped 0.10% or 1.40 points to close at 1,402.61; coal producer Banpu rose 2.56% or 0.75 baht to close at 30baht, while Bangkok Bank fell 1.31% or 2.50 baht to close at 189baht.

Kuala Lumpur’s main stock index ended unchanged at 1,860.43; Telekom Malaysia gained 0.49% to 6.13 ringgit, Tenaga Nasional rose 0.17% to 11.94, Public Bank added 1.01% to 20.04 while Sime Darby lost 0.11% to 9.47 ringgit.

Jakarta ended up 0.57%, or 27.60, at 4,862.07; palm oil firm Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology gained 7.03% to 6,850 rupiah, while cigarette maker Gudang Garam fell 4.21% to 53,500 rupiah.

Singapore’s Straits Times Index lost 0.28%, or 9.13 points, to close at 3,236.43; Singapore Airlines eased 0.10% to Sg$10.28 while United Overseas Bank also dipped 0.05% to Sg%21.60.

Wellington rose 0.27%, or 14.23 points, to 5,189.13; Contact Energy was up 1.79% at NZ$5.70 and Telecom added 1.14% to close at NZ$2.67.

Taipei fell 0.22%, or 19.17 points, to 8,893.22; smartphone maker HTC slipped 1.71% to Tw$172.0 while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co rose 0.42% to Tw$118.5.

Manila dipped 0.26%, or 17.42 points, to 6,748.51; Manila Water Company shed 2.22% to 26.40 pesos while Alliance Global Group was 1.48% lower at 30 pesos.

New York’s three main indexes turned lower on Tuesday as Twitter dived almost 18% after the end of a lockup period for early shareholders, enabling them to sell for the first time since November’s listing.

The Dow sank 0.78%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.90% and the tech-rich Nasdaq lost 1.38%.

Analysts said that despite Friday’s better-than-expected jump in new jobs for April, investors feared there was still underlying weakness in the economy.

Events in Eastern Europe are also fuelling bearishness.