Asian markets traded mostly lower in early deals on Wednesday, following a fresh wave of military escalations and US strikes involving Iran. Investor sentiments dampened after the US Treasury Department revoked a critical Iranian oil export license. Sharp selloff in technology stocks after overnight losses on Wall Street, saddled local indices. South Korea’s KOSPI plunged due to a severe correction in artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor stocks, coupled with sudden macroeconomic and geopolitical pressures
Nikkei down by 466.96 points or 0.68% to 67,790.00, Taiwan weighted slipped by 79.20 points or 0.17% to 45,399.91, KOSPI Index plunged by 317.62 points or 4.15% to 7,338.69, Jakarta Composite fell by 57.51 points or 0.96% to 5,928.99 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI index trimmed by 0.85 points or 0.05% to 1,682.08.
On the flip side, Hang Seng up by 523.11 points or 2.18% to 24,020.00, Straits Times rose by 59.81 points or 1.12% to 5,402.05, and Shanghai Composite higher by 20.81 points or 0.52% to 4,011.05.
