Most Asian share markets are lower in early trade on Wednesday, after a sharp rise in Spanish and Italian borrowing costs heated up concerns about Europe’s debt.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 1.2%, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average lost 1% and China’s Shanghai Composite inched lower 0.2%. South Korea’s Kospi was closed on a day of national elections. Sony slumped 4.5% and Sharp traded down 4% after both electronics firms released earnings downgrades late Tuesday.
US stocks suffered their worst drop this year on Tuesday as higher European borrowing costs stirred fresh worries about Europe’s debt crisis, with heightened worries ahead of the corporate results season.
Kirill Markin from Investcafe believes the sell-off on the global markets is likely to be short-lived, and stock markets are likely to push back into positive territory by the end of Wednesday’s session.
Investors in Russia are keeping an eye on president-elect Vladimir Putin’s speech due at 8 am GMT where he may give some clue as to possible measures to stimulate capital inflow.