Most Asia-Pacific markets fell Thursday as chip-related stocks dropped following reports of more stringent export restrictions from the U.S. and as comments from former U.S. President Donald Trump raised geopolitical tensions.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 stumbled 971.34 points, or 2.4%, to 40,126.35.
Shares of Tokyo Electron, which supplies Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, plunged more than 8%. Other chip-related stocks such as Advantest slid 5% while Organo dropped about 3%.
Japan’s exports rose 5.4% year on year in June, a steep decline from 13.5% in May. Imports grew 3.2% year on year last month, down from 9.5% in May. Both exports and imports missed Reuters expectations of 6.4% and 9.3% growth, respectively.
Japan’s trade balance reversed from a 1.2 trillion yen ($7.7 billion) deficit in May, to a 224 billion yen surplus.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index advanced 39 points, or 0.2%, to 17,778.41.
Korean markets were in the red, as Samsung Electronics ended the day 0.23% higher.
Shares of TSMC, the world’s largest chip maker, fell more than 2.43%, dragging the Taiwan Weighted Index to close lower by 1.56%.
Australian markets also dipped. Data from the country’s statistics bureau earlier showed the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 4.1% in June, a 0.1 percentage point increase from May.
Employment in Australia rose by around 50,000 people and the unemployed increased by 10,000 people, Bjorn Jarvis, head of labor statistics at the Australian Bureau of Statistics, said in a release. The participation rate rose to 66.9%, just 0.1 percentage point below the historical high of 67% in November last year.
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 gained 19.35 points, or 0.6%, to 3,520.93.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index fell 18.41 points, or 0.5%, to 3,471.16.
In Korea, the Kospi index subtracted 18.94 points, or 0.7%, to 2,824.35
In Taiwan, the Taiex index plummeted 375.54 points, or 1.9%, to 19,036.68
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 gained 37.42 points, or 0.3%, to 12,329.44.
In Australia, the ASX 200 sank 21.37 points, or 0.3%, to 8,036.52.
