ASIA STOCKS: Asian Equities Broadly Lower, Tech Stocks Lead Sell-Off

Asian equity markets are broadly lower today with moves being driven by several key factors. Concerns about China's economic outlook and doubts over whether recent government stimulus will be enough to boost growth have weighed on investor sentiment, Hong Kong listed equities are slightly underperforming with the HSI trading 1% lower, while the CSI 300 is down 0.80% with Property (Mainland Property Index -2.90%) and Tech (HSTech Index -1.80%) the worst performing.

• In Japan, disappointing PMI data pointed to a downturn in manufacturing and services, causing the market to trade slightly lower today although we are well off morning lows with the TOPIX -0.30%, while the Nikkei is 0.20% lower. The weakening yen is now doing little to support the local equity market, with exporters largely underperforming the market this morning (Toyota -1%, Honda -0.80%, Suzuki -1.30%). Elsewhere, Japan's SoftBank has dropped about 4% early, however has recovered to trade just 2.5% lower, after ARM Holdings which is 88% owned by Softbank dropped 6.7% overnight, with the sell-off in Arm Holdings influenced by their ongoing legal dispute with Qualcomm.
• Foreign investors are back selling South Korean equities, with tech stocks seeing the bulk of the selling. The KOSPI is 0.60% lower today, led by a 3% sell-off in Samsung, SK Hynix is 2% higher following an earnings beat. Taiwan's TAIEX is 0.50% lower, with Hon Hai down 1.85%, while TSMC trades flat.
• Australia's ASX200 is little changed today with gains in Financials being offset by losses in Miners & Tech. New Zealand's NZX50 is 0.20% higher.
• Additionally, election-related uncertainty in the US with polling suggesting a tight race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, which has been impacting broader global sentiment, contributing to market caution across the region.