Stocks in Asia Declined as Investors Abandoned Tech Stocks

Most stocks in Asia-Pacific suffered losses on Tuesday due to pressure caused by a sell-off in tech stocks that weighed down main U.S. indexes overnight. Stocks in Taiwan led losses across the region, with the benchmark Taiex finishing the trading session 3.79% lower.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 3.08% and the Topix index declined 2.37%. South Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.23%.

In Australia, the ASX 200 fell 1.06% ahead of the government’s budget announcement on May 11.

Hong Kong’s Hang Index dropped 2% in later afternoon trade as Chinese tech stocks declined. Shares of food delivery giant Meituan fell about 6% as authorities in Beijing continued to clamp down on internet firms.

In mainland China, the Shanghai composite added 0.4% and the Shenzhen composite gained around 0.36%.

On Tuesday, China released information regarding consumer prices in April. The consumer prices jumped 0.9% from a year ago, slightly missing expectations. Nevertheless, the producer price index rose 6.8%, surpassing the 6.5% projected by analysts.

The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by a record 18.3% in annual terms in the first quarter of the year. The world’s second-largest economy continues to recover from the devastating impact of Covid-19. Many economists expect the country’s GDP growth to surpass 8% in 2021.

The country also released results from its once-a-decade census. The information is quite problematic, as the country’s population only increased by 0.53% over the past 10 years.

Stocks in Malaysia and the Philippines

Southeast Asian countries Malaysia, as well as the Philippines, reported first-quarter gross domestic product data. Malaysia’s economy fell by 0.5% in the January-to-March quarter compared with a year ago.

The economy of the Philippines shrank 4.2% on year, more than the 3% contraction expected by analysts.

Stocks in Malaysia declined 0.62% while that in the Philippines were higher by around 0.15%.