Restored Cheonggyecheon at night, Seoul.
Renan Gicquel | Open Moment | Getty Images
South Korea’s Kospi plunged as much as 5% on Friday, leading another weak session in Asian markets after the sale of technology products turned into a rout on Wall Street.
South Korea’s index pared losses and was last down 3.65%; Small-cap Kosdaq was also down 3.65%.
Index heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix fell 3.39% and 3.68%, respectively, while Hyundai Motor was down 5.42%. Defense heavyweight Hanwha Aerospace was down 5.87%, while LG Energy Solution lost 3.67%.
The South Korean market, which is heavily weighted toward companies in the microchip and auto sectors, has seen sharp swings over the past week as sentiment toward technology stocks deteriorates.
Elsewhere, Japan Nikkei 225 opened down 0.57%, on track for a third straight day of losses. The broad-based Topix was marginal.
Shares of Japanese pharmaceutical makers also fell on Friday, after US President Donald Trump revealed his website offering discounted prescription medications.
Sumitomo Pharma fell more than 5%, while Takeda Pharmaceutical, Japan’s largest drugmaker, fell 1.75%.
Australia S&P/ASX200 also showed signs of weakness, down 1.83%.
that of Hong Kong Hang Seng Index futures were at 26,510, below the last close of 26,885.24.
On the raw materials front, silver spot price continued its decline, falling 3.5% after collapsing around 13% on Thursday.
Overnight in the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.20%, while the S&P500 lost 1.23%, pushing it into negative territory for the year. The heavy on technology Nasdaq Composite recorded the largest decline, with a drop of 1.59%.
—CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Sarah Min contributed to this report.
