Investing.com - Shares across the Asia Pacific region kicked off the week on a low note, echoing the fall of US stocks on Friday, primarily due to the disruption caused by a major technology outage at CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD).
By 10:35 am AEST (12:45 am GMT) the S&P/ASX 200, KOSPI 200, and Nikkei 225 experienced drops of 0.4%, 0.5%, and 1% respectively.
The tech-centric NASDAQ Composite fell by 0.8%, the S&P 500 saw a 0.7% drop, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 377.49 points, or 0.9%.
The global technology outage was caused by an update from CrowdStrike, a provider of malware and virus protection. The chief executive of CrowdStrike stated that a fix had been deployed, but shares of the cybersecurity-software company tumbled 11%.
Investors are bracing for increased market volatility in the coming days following President Joe Biden's decision not to seek reelection and instead endorse Vice President Kamala Harris.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields rose slightly to 4.238%, up from 4.188% on Thursday. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, jumped nearly 6% to $67,235.34.
In corporate news, Travelers (NYSE:TRV) and American Express (NYSE:AXP) shares dropped following weaker-than-expected revenue reports, while Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) saw a 6.9% boost after news of activist investor Elliott Investment Management building a significant stake in the company.
Commodities also experienced a downturn, with Brent crude oil down 2.9% to US$82.63 a barrel and gold falling 1.8% to US$2,400.83.
Chinese shares, however, bucked the trend and ended up higher, driven by semiconductor stocks. Investors are currently analyzing signals from the Third Plenum and awaiting further details from the end-of-July Politburo meeting. Major stocks, including SMIC and StarPower Semiconductor, saw gains, while Poly Developments & Holdings and Cnooc reported losses.
Hong Kong shares closed lower, with the Hang Seng Index down by 2.0%. Property stocks experienced the most significant declines, while BYD and China Unicom reported gains.
Japanese stocks closed lower due to falls in pharmaceutical and machinery stocks, amid uncertainty over potential rate increases by the Bank of Japan. Indian shares also ended lower, following Wall Street's losses and the global IT outage.
In the U.K., the FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.6%, with Burberry Group (LON:BRBY) PLC witnessing the largest decline. Conversely, Bridgepoint Group PLC saw the most significant gain during the session.
Markets in other parts of Europe closed lower, with the STOXX Europe 600 Index down 0.8%, Germany's DAX slipping 1.0%, and France's CAC 40 falling by 0.7%.