Most Asia-Pacific markets opened lower on Wednesday morning in line with falling investor confidence that the US will cut interest rates.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 1 per cent as Alibaba shares continued their slide, declining more than 2.5 per cent. Tencent stocks fell more than 1 per cent.
South Korea’s Kospi retreated nearly 2 per cent, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index declined 1 per cent. China’s CSI 300 was flat, and Japan’s Topix inched up 0.2 per cent.
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 fell 0.6 per cent, dragged down by tech stocks. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 1.6 per cent, notching its worst daily fall since late October.
The US Federal Reserve begins its next two-day interest rate-setting meeting on January 30.