Broad Based Weakness As Tech Earning Fear/Higher US Yields Weigh

Regional equity sentiment has faltered sharply in Thursday trade to date. This follows sharp US losses in Wednesday trade, particularly in the tech space. These trends have continued today, with US Nasdaq futures down sharply, off over 1%. Eminis are also weaker, down 0.65% at this stage. Weakness in Meta, which highlighted an uncertain economic backdrop and its impact on the AI sector, has weighed (see this BBG link). Elevated US yields remains the other headwind.

• Not surprisingly, tech sensitive bourses have seen the largest percentage losses. The South Korean Kospi is off 2.23%. Offshore investors have sold local shares, although institutional and retail investors have been buyers.
• The Topix is off nearly 1.40%, with Toyota losses dragging the index down. The Taiex is down by 1.5%, following a sharp loss for the SOX in Wednesday US trade.
• Losses are more modest for Hong Kong and mainland China shares. At the break the HSI is down by around 0.55%, with the CSI 300 off by the same amount. For the HSI this offsets yesterday's gain, which was aided in part by Hong Kong Executive efforts to aid the property market and boost stock trading.
• In SEA all markets are weaker, with Indonesia's JCI the worst performer, down 1.6%. Thailand and Philippine stocks are also off by a little over 1%.