Investing.com – Asian equities extended losses in afternoon trade on Wednesday, with Japanese, Hong Kong, Chinese and Korean equities all remaining in red. Meanwhile, the rising yields on 10-year U.S. Treasuries that topped 3% continued to weigh on investor sentiment.
Asian stocks were in line with U.S. indices to trade lower as the sentiment in Wall Street trade soured amid rising yields. Concerns over the earnings outlook weighed on industrial and technology shares.
In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index was further down 1.04% at 1:39PM ET (05:39 GMT). Tech stocks followed their U.S. counterparts, with heavyweight Tencent Holdings Ltd (HK:0700) dropping 2.72% to a three-month low at 386.50. Automaker BAIC Motor Corp Ltd (HK:1958)slumped 9.56%.
In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.36% while the SZSE Component steadied at 10,558.28. China’s financial heavyweight China Construction Bank Corp (SS:601939) dropped 0.53%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.33% to 22,203.50, while South Korea’s Kospi was down 1.02% to 2,439.00. Japan’s Casio Computer Co., Ltd plunged 7.69%.
As the U.S.-China trade conflict woes receded, global investors all eyed the rising yields of U.S. 10-year Treasuries in recent days. The yields surged to 3% on Tuesday, a new high since early 2014. There is a fear the higher yields will divert investor attention from equities as safe-bet government debt looks more attractive
Down under, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was closed for ANZAC Day.