Lower As Russia-Ukraine Talks Fizzle, Inflation Worry Lingers

Most major Asia-Pac equity indices trade sharply lower at writing to build on a negative lead from Wall St., while a milder selloff was witnessed in EM equity indices. High-beta stocks across the region struggled, facilitated by Thursday’s hot U.S. CPI print, and a lack of progress in “high-level” Russia-Ukraine talks towards de-escalating the conflict in Ukraine, with some idiosyncracies also working against Chinese related tech names.

• The Hang Seng underperformed, sitting 3.4% weaker at typing. The index has hit fresh five-year lows as China-based tech stocks struggled, with the Hang Seng Tech Index (-7.5% at typing) recording new all-time lows. To elaborate, the move lower comes as Chinese stocks listed in the U.S. experienced their worst day in over a decade (Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index: -10.1%) after the U.S. SEC identified five Chinese companies on Thursday that could be subject to delisting under non-compliance with auditing requirements.
• The CSI300 is 2.4% worse off at typing, with the steepest declines witnessed in the richly valued consumer staples and healthcare sub-indices.
• The ASX200 fared a little better than regional peers, reversing early gains to close 0.9% lower. Most of the sectors within the index traded lower on the day, although the utilities, energy, and materials sub-indices ended between 0.1% to 0.5% better off.
• U.S. e-mini equity index futures sit 0.4% to 0.7% lower at writing, dealing a touch above their session lows heading into European hours.