Global equity markets came under pressure on Wednesday following a technology-led sell-off on Wall Street.
In Asia, benchmarks in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan all declined, weighed down by heavy losses among semiconductor stocks. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 slid 1.7pc to 42,787.28, with chip-equipment makers Advantest and Disco tumbling 6.6pc and 4.7pc respectively. Tokyo Electron lost 1.9pc, while Lasertec fell 1.8pc. The weakness came as Japan reported exports for July fell more than expected, hurt by higher US tariffs.
South Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.4pc to 3,096.09, while Taiwan’s Taiex shed 2.4pc after TSMC slid 3.8pc.
On Wall Street, Nvidia and other major artificial intelligence names led declines, pushing the S&P 500 down 0.6pc to 6,411.37 and dragging the Nasdaq 1.5pc lower to 21,314.95. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed, ending flat at 44,922.27 after briefly hitting a record intraday high.
In bond markets, the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury eased to 4.314pc from 4.346pc late Monday.
