Most Asian stock markets dropped on Monday, with Japan and South Korea leading losses on Wall Street tech weakness, while Hong Kong climbed after a private survey showed Chinese factory activity rebounding.
The slide followed Friday’s losses on Wall Street, where tech-heavy sectors underperformed, prompting a regional sell-off in Asian tech-linked equities.
Investors remained cautious ahead of upcoming U.S. labour and macroeconomic data, alongside ongoing trade and tariff-related uncertainties.
U.S. stock index futures edged higher in Asia hours on Monday.
Asia tech stocks decline tracking Wall St Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index slipped around 2% in early trade, weighed down by declines in heavyweight exporters and tech-related names.
Advantest Corp. (TYO:6857) shares slumped more than 9%, while SoftBank Group (TYO:9984) stock dropped nearly 7%.
Japan’s broader TOPIX index traded 0.8% lower.
In South Korea, the KOSPI also gave up ground, falling 1.1%.
Samsung Electronics (KS:005930) shares fell 2.5%, and SK Hynix Inc (KS:000660) shares dropped 4.5% on Monday.
Last week, the U.S. revoked approvals for Samsung and SK Hynix to obtain semiconductor equipment for their China chip plants.
Elsewhere, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.7%.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index was largely unchanged, while India’s Nifty 50 gained 0.4%.
Hong Kong shares jump after China PMI data A private survey on Monday showed that China’s factory activity expanded at the fastest pace in five months in August amid easing U.S.-China trade worries.
3rd party Ad. Not an offer or recommendation by Investing.com. See disclosure here or remove ads. The figures contrasted an official reading, showing a fifth consecutive contraction in August, but sparked optimism.
The Shanghai Composite index gained 0.1%, while the Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 was largely unchanged.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index notably jumped about 2%, outperforming regional peers, as investors interpreted the PMI rebound as a potential early signal of reviving Chinese industrial demand.
