Asian markets fell significantly on Wednesday, as anticipation of the US CPI reading spurred risk aversion.
Markets were also looking forward to a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell later this week.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 1%, while the Topix index lost 1.1%.
Shares in technology investment giant SoftBank Group Corp (TYO: 9984) lost 0.6% even as it reported much stronger-than-expected earnings for the quarter ending in September.
South Korea’s KOSPI index was hit hard by continuing losses in chip industry stocks, with Samsung Electronics stock falling to its lowest levels in four years on concerns about US tariffs under Trump.
Samsung has also largely lagged behind its competitors in taking advantage of increased demand for memory chips from the artificial intelligence boom.
The Nifty index is close to its lowest level in more than five months after India’s CPI data came in much stronger than expected for October.
