Investing.com - Asian markets slipped in morning trade on Wednesday following a plunge on Wall Street overnight.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 551.80 points to close at 24,465.64 while the S&P 500 declined 1.8%. The Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, shed 1.7% to 6,908.82.
The Dow and the S&P 500 erased their gains for 2018 and are now down 1.0% and 1.2% respectively for the year.
Members of the "FAANG" stocks, including Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Google-parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), are all down more than 20% from their 52-week highs currently and are trading in bear market territories.
“The fact that we haven’t seen a fast bounce or hard bounce, shows the market is exploring where prices should be,” Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial Network. “But it’s hopefully a sign that we’re starting to find a bottom here.”
In Asia, China’s Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component both slipped 0.2% by 9:28 PM ET (02:28 GMT). Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 0.4%.
In a 53-page report released on Tuesday, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer’s office accused China of a state-backed campaign of intellectual property and technology theft.
“China fundamentally has not altered its acts, policies, and practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation, and indeed appears to have taken further unreasonable actions in recent months,” the report said.
U.S. President Donald Trump is due to meet his Chinese counter Xi Jinping later this month during the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 traded 0.6% lower, with South Korea’s KOSPI declined 0.9%.
Down under, Australia’s ASX 200 dropped 0.7%.
Elsewhere, oil prices were in focus after Trump issued a statement on Tuesday and said the U.S. stands by Saudi Arabia despite the killing of journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents last month.
The U.S. financial markets will be closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving Day holiday. Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, marks the traditional start to the U.S. holiday shopping season.