By Alex Ho
Investing.com - Asian markets fell on Tuesday morning, with Hong Kong and Japan’s apple suppliers’ stocks underperforming after the tech giant issued a revenue warning.
The Hang Seng Index was down 1.3% by 10:45 PM ET (02:45 GMT), while the Nikkei 225 fell 1.6%.
South Korea’s KOSPI also lost 1.3%.
In China, the Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component traded 0.4% and 0.2% lower respectively.
Down under, Australia’s ASX 200 slid 0.3%.
Overnight, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) said it is not likely to meet its quarterly revenue forecast because of lower iPhone supply globally and declining Chinese demand.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) suppliers in Asia fell sharply in morning trade following the news. Japan’s Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd. (T:6976) plunged more than 5%, while Alps Alpine and Murata Manufacturing slumped more than 3%.
Hong Kong’s Sunny Optical Technology Group Co Ltd (HK:2382) dived 3.4%, and AAC Technologies Holdings Inc (HK:2018) stumbled 2.9%. South Korea’s SK Hynix Inc (KS:000660) lost 1.0%, and Samsung Electronics (KS:005930) declined 1.5%.
“This unexpected news confirms the worst fears of the Street that the virus outbreak has dramatically impacted iPhone supply from China/Foxconn with a demand ripple impact worldwide,” Wedbush Securities analysts Daniel Ives and Strecker Backe wrote in a note cited by CNBC, adding that the magnitude of the impact is “clearly worse than feared.”
“While this news is a tough pill to swallow for the bulls, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) remains a company significantly exposed to this virus issue given the company’s massive supply and demand tentacles throughout China,” they added.
Meanwhile, HSBC Bank, Europe’s largest lender, is due to report its full year result later in the day.
In other news, trade tensions between the U.S. and China returned to focus after Bloomberg cited four people familiar with the matter and said the Trump administration is considering new restrictions on exports of cutting-edge technology to China.