Asia-Pacific stocks drop on Russia-Ukraine conflict

On Monday, Asia-Pacific stocks edged lower, with the region’s key indexes hitting new lows on growing concerns about the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Investors worried about the possible economic fallout amid the geopolitical tension as they prospected a ban on Russian crude supplies.

In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 tumbled 3.29% or 854.93 points to the $25,130.54 price level.

Accordingly, Hino Motors sank 16.76% or 1.31 points to $6.49 per share.

The significant downturn came after the truck maker revealed years of falsified engine data, affecting 115,000 vehicles.

Consequently, Japan Steel Works Ltd. plummeted 9.96%, or 3.18 points to $28.73 per share.

At the same time, Sumitomo Electric Industries slashed 9.34% or 1.16 points to $11.25 per share.

Then, market heavyweight SoftBank Group Corp. shed 5.14% or 2.22 points to $40.98 per share.

Eventually, the broader TOPIX index declined 3.24% or 60.17 points to the 1,784.77 price level.

Its worst performer, Aichi Tokei Denki Co., an electric component manufacturer, fluctuated 11.82% or 1.85 points to $13.83 per share.

Similarly, printed-circuit board maker CMK Corp. lowered 8.65% or 0.45 points to $4.78 per share.

Elsewhere, South Korea’s KOSPI decreased 2.24%, or 60.85 to the 2,652.58 price level.

In India, the NIFTY 50 index inched down 2.83% or 459.95 points to the 15,785.40 price level.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index slumped 1.21% or 85.80 points to the 7,025.00 price level.

Likewise, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 diminished 1.88% or 228.50 points to the 11,913.27 price level.

Hang Seng slips 3% as Asia-Pacific stocks down

Moreover, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong led losses regionally, declining 3.23% or 708.37 points to the 21,196.92 price level.

In almost six years, the sustained regulatory pressure on China’s technology sector pulled down the benchmark to its lowest level.

In line with this, the Hang Seng Tech index lost 3.37% or 0.16 points to the 4.52 price level.

Correspondingly, the food delivery giant Meituan skidded 7.95% or 13.10 points to 1.68 points to $19.41 per share.

Then, leading e-commerce firm Alibaba dwindled by 2.68% or 0.34 points to $12.33 per share.

Gaming titan Tencent also reduced 2.93% or 1.51 points to $50.08 per share.

Eventually, mainland China’s Shanghai Composite diminished by 1.48% or 50.91 points to the 3,396.73 price level.

Similarly, the Shenzhen component slipped 2.58% or 336.42 points to the 12,684.04 price level.

The benchmark MSCI of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan tumbled 2.55% or 14.87 points to the 568.76 price level. The gauge is now on track for a technical bear market.

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