Restored Cheonggyecheon at night, Seoul.
Renan Gicquel | Moment Open | Getty Images
South Korea’s Kospi plunged as much as 5% Friday, leading another weak session in Asia markets after a tech-led rout on Wall Street.
The South Korean index pared losses and was last down 3.20%; the small-cap Kosdaq was down 3.17%.
Index heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix fell 3.08% and 3.56% respectively, while Hyundai Motor was 5.42% lower. Defense heavyweight Hanwha Aerospace was 5.87% down, while LG Energy Solution lost 3.67%.
South Korea’s market, which is heavily weighted in favor of companies in the chip and automotive industries, have seen sharp swings in the past week as sentiment over tech stocks sours.
Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 shed 0.57%, on pace for a third straight day of losses. The broad-based Topix was marginally lower.
Stocks of Japanese pharmaceutical makers also slumped on Friday, after U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled his website offering discounted prescription medicines.
Sumitomo Pharma dropped over 5%, while Takeda Pharmaceutical, Japan’s largest drugmaker, fell 1.75%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped about 2% on open, while mainland China’s CSI 300 down marginally.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 also showed signs of weakness, falling 1.84%.
On the commodities front, spot silver prices continued their decline, dropping 1.63% after crashing about 13% on Thursday.
Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 1.20%, while the S&P 500 lost 1.23%, pushing it into negative territory for the year. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite posted the biggest decline, dropping 1.59%.
—CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Sarah Min contributed to this report.
