Asian Shares Slide As Tech Stocks Drag

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks fell on Wednesday as risk appetite remained in check ahead of key U.S. inflation data due out later in the day that could offer clues on the Fed's next move on interest rates.

U.S. consumer prices are expected to edge up by 0.2 percent in July after increasing by 1.3 percent in June. The annual rate of growth is expected to slow to 8.7 percent from a four-decade high of 9.1 percent.

Chinese shares closed lower, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite falling 0.54 percent to 3,230.02.

China's consumer inflation accelerated in July to the highest level in two years, while producer price inflation slowed to 4.2 percent from 6.1 percent in June, data showed earlier in the day.

The consumer price index rose an annual 2.7 percent in the month, up from a 2.5 percent increase in June.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slumped 1.96 percent to 19,610.84 amid concerns about rising tensions between China and the United States following last week's trip by Nancy Pelosi.

Japanese shares retreated as chip-related stocks followed their U.S. peers lower following a dismal forecast from Micron Technology. The Nikkei average fell 0.65 percent to 27,819.33, while the broader Topix index ended 0.17 percent lower at 1,933.65.

Tokyo Electron, Screen Holdings and Advantest lost 3-4 percent. Sumitomo Forestry soared 8.5 percent and Rohto Pharmaceutical surged 14.4 percent on robust earnings. Producer prices in Japan climbed an annual 8.6 percent in July, the Bank of Japan said in a preliminary report earlier in the day.

Seoul stocks tumbled as disappointing earnings and projections from big U.S. tech firms like Nvidia and Micron pointed to a further slowdown in global chip demand.

The Kospi average dropped 0.90 percent to 2,480.88. Naver, Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and LG Chem slid 1-3 percent. Hyundai Engineering & Construction shares surged 7.5 percent.

Australian markets ended lower, with miners and tech stocks pacing the declines. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 0.53 percent to 6,992.70 while the broader All Ordinaries index closed 0.55 percent lower at 7,238.70. Block Inc shares fell a little over 6 percent.

Falling iron ore prices weighed on the mining sector, with heavyweight BHP declining 1.3 percent. Lender Commonwealth edged up slightly after posting a 11 percent jump in annual profit.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index finished marginally lower at 11,752.09. A2 Milk plummeted 7.5 percent after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) deferred its request to sell infant milk formula products in the country.

U.S. stocks ended lower overnight as investors digested a batch of disappointing earnings reports and awaited inflation data for cues on the Fed's policy tightening path.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 1.2 percent, while the S&P 500 declined 0.4 percent and the Dow eased 0.2 percent.