Asian shares steadied on Friday following a technology-led sell-off on Wall Street, while the Japanese shares tumbled and Shanghai’s benchmark surged.
The Nikkei 225 index started its first trading day of 2019 by falling more than 3.0 per cent. By midday, it was trading 2.8 per cent lower at 19,465.36 as technology and electronics makers slumped.
But Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1.3 per cent to 25,380.37. The Shanghai Composite rebounded 1.8 per cent to 2,509.02, reports AP.
US shares fell after Apple CEO Tim Cook told shareholders after markets closed Wednesday that Chinese iPhone sales were slipping.
The S&P 500 index gave up 2.5 per cent to 2,447.89 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 2.8 per cent to 22,868.22. The Nasdaq composite declined 3.0 per cent to 6,463.50.
On Friday, South Korea’s Kospi, which has a high number of technology stocks, added 0.5 per cent to 2,003.99. Australia’s S&P-ASX 200 shed 0.6 per cent to 5,600.10.
Shares fell in Taiwan and Thailand, but rose in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.
In other trading, US crude oil added 17 cents to $47.26 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 55 cents to $47.09 per barrel on Thursday.
Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 11 cents to $56.06 per barrel. It gained $1.04 to $55.95 per barrel in London.
The dollar strengthened to 108.37 yen from 107.67 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1393 from $1.1394.