Shares in Asia-Pacific were lower on Thursday as tech stocks sold off following overnight losses on Wall Street — after data showed the consumer price index stateside in April remaining near the highest level in more than 40 years.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 dumped 464.92 points, or 1.8%, to 25,748.72.
Shares of Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group plummeted 8%.
The Japanese yen traded at 128.59 per U.S. dollar, stronger as compared with levels above 130.5 seen against the greenback earlier this week.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index reversed 444.23 points, or 2.2%, to 19,380.34. Shares of Alibaba dropped 6.6% while Meituan shed 2.7%. JD.com also saw its Hong Kong-listed stock plunge 7.8%.
Technology stocks in Taiwan also saw losses, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company shares sliding 3.1% while Pegatron fell 1.2%.Over in South Korea, Kakao shares slipped 5.5% while Krafton shed 2%.
The Australian dollar was at $0.6881 after a recent decline from levels above $0.70.
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 index docked 17.68 points, or 0.4%, to 3,958.74.
In Taiwan, the Taiex doffed 389.57 points, or 2.4%, to 15,616.68.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index dropped 60.89 points, or 1.9%, to 3,165.18
In Korea, the Kospi index lost 42.19 points, or 1.6%, to 2,550.08
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 skidded 55.81 points, or 0.5%, to 11,177.36.
In Australia, the ASX 200 shed 123.65 points, or 1.8%, to 6,941.03.
