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Asia-Pacific markets fell Wednesday, tracking Wall Street declines overnight, as investors parsed Japan’s trade data and China’s loan prime rate decision.
Japan’s exports dropped 2.6% year over year in July, notching their steepest drop in over four years. The fall was sharper than the 2.1% contraction expected by economists polled by Reuters and compared to the 0.5% drop seen in June.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.93%, while the Topix lost 0.31%. Shares of SoftBank Group plunged as much as 9.17% Wednesday, as technology stocks in Asia declined, tracking losses in U.S. peers overnight.
The Japanese tech-focused investment firm saw shares drop for a second consecutive session, following its announcement of a $2 billion investment in Intel. Intel shares rose 6.97% to close at $25.31 Tuesday stateside.
South Korea’s Kospi lost 1.52% and the small-cap Kosdaq fell 1.77%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was 0.24% lower at the open.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.71%, while the mainland’s CSI 300 declined 0.48% after China left its key lending rates steady in August for a third straight month, matching market forecasts. Taiwan’s Taiex fell more than 2%.
Shares in Chinese toymaker Pop Mart rose in volatile trading Wednesday, a day after the company posted a near-400% surge in net profit, driven by booming global demand for its Labubu dolls.
Pop Mart pared earlier losses to climb above 2% as of 10.45 a.m. local time (10:45 p.m. ET Tuesday).
Overnight stateside, the S&P 500 pulled back, weighed down by Nvidia shares and a broad decline in technology stocks. The broad market S&P 500 lost 0.59% and closed at 6,411.37, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.46% to settle at 21,314.95.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 10.45 points, or 0.02%, and ended at 44,922.27. The 30-stock index touched a fresh record high during the session.
—CNBC’s Pia Singh and Yun Li contributed to this report.