Asian shares slip after Wall Street sell-off

A man looks at an electronic stock price indicator in Tokyo on Monday, April 7, 2014. Internet and technology stocks tumbled across Asia on Monday as a sell-off spread from Wall Street where investors knocked down such companies over worries about excessively high valuations. AP PHOTO/SHIZUO KAMBAYASHI

HONG KONG—Asian markets retreated Monday, taking their lead from a heavy sell-off on Wall Street despite a healthy US jobs report, while the dollar struggled to regain losses suffered against the yen at the end of last week.

Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei-225 index fell 1.69 percent, or 254.92 points, to finish at 14,808.85; Sydney recovered most of its early losses to close down 0.17 percent, or 9.1 points, at 5,413.7.

Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index lost 0.59 percent, or 132.93 points, to end at 22,377.15, while Seoul closed flat, inching up 0.08 percent, or 1.61 points, to close at 1,989.70.

Shanghai, Shenzhen and Bangkok were closed for public holidays.

On Friday the US Labor Department said the world’s No. 1 economy added 192,000 jobs in March—just below forecasts of 195,000—while the unemployment rate held steady at 6.7 percent.

While the figure was an improvement on the past three months when the country was hit by a severe winter, the growth rate is unlikely to alter the pace of the Federal Reserve’s stimulus tapering program.

The dollar sank in New York after the report. A stronger figure would likely have pressed the Fed to wind down its asset purchases quicker, in turn putting upward pressure on interest rates.

The greenback ended Friday at 103.26 yen from 103.88 yen earlier in Tokyo.

On Monday the greenback bought 103.03 yen in afternoon trade.

The euro fetched $1.3701 in the afternoon Monday against $1.3704 in US trade, while it was also at 141.17 yen, against 141.50 yen in New York and 142.36 yen in Tokyo Friday.

On Wall Street the three main indexes tumbled after notching up strong gains through the week.

The Nasdaq plunged 2.60 percent, while the Dow sank 0.96 percent and the S&P 500, which saw two record closes in the week, lost 1.25 percent.

However, analysts said the sell-off was mostly down to shares in big-name firms such as Facebook, Netflix and Google being overvalued rather than investors reacting to economic data.

Oil prices dipped. New York’s main contract West Texas Intermediate for May delivery dropped 30 cents to $100.84 a barrel in afternoon trade and Brent North Sea crude for May slid 80 cents to $105.92.

Gold fetched $1,300.91 an ounce at 1040 GMT, up from $1,292.03 late Friday.

In other markets:

— Jakarta gained 1.30 percent, or 63.10 points, to 4,921.04.

Bank Negara Indonesia climbed 0.49 percent to 5,150 rupiah, while Hero Supermarket lost 2.61 percent to 2,800 rupiah.

— Mumbai slipped 0.07 percent, or 16.05 points, to 22,343.45.

Jindal Steel fell 6.04 percent, or 18.10 rupees, to 281.40 rupees, while Future Retail lost 5.13 percent or 4.60 rupees, to 85.15 rupees.

— Kuala Lumpur jumped 0.34 percent, or 6.29 points, to 1,862.90.

Tenaga Nasional gained 3.0 percent to 11.68 ringgit, Telekom Malaysia rose 0.86 percent to 5.86 while Public Bank fell 2.50 percent to 20.28 ringgit.

— Singapore eased 0.60 percent, or 19.13 points, to 3,193.59.

Singapore Airlines lost 0.87 percent to Sg$10.30 while DBS bank dropped 0.48 percent to Sg$16.47.

— Manila closed up 0.81 percent, or 53.20 points, to 6,614.40.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. was steady at 2,736 pesos while Ayala Corp. inched up 0.17 percent to 606 pesos.

— Wellington fell 0.94 percent, or 48.06 points, to 5,075.84.

Telecom Corp. was off 0.20 percent at NZ$2.525 and Fletcher Building down 1.56 percent at NZ$9.44

— Taipei edged down 0.14 percent, or 12.10 points, to 8,876.44.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. was 0.84 percent lower at Tw$117.5 while Hon Hai Precision was up 0.12 percent at Tw$86.3.—Danny McCord