Asia-Pacific stocks slide; Hang Seng drops 3%

On Monday, Asia-Pacific stocks registered significant losses following a sell-off on Wall Street last week.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index sharply fell 2.57% or 530.33 points to the 20,108.19 mark.

At the bottom index, Haidilao International Holding lost 11.99% or 0.23 points to $1.72 per share. The stricter health restrictions in China weighed on the operations of the restaurant chain company.

Eventually, China Merchants Bank Co. slumped by 6.42% or 0.42 points to $6.08 per share. This downdraft came after the Chinese retail lending giant announced the unexpected exit of its highest-ranking executive last week.

Likewise, Xinyi Solar Holdings slashed 7.36% or 0.11 points to $1.41 per share.

Accordingly, fears about the economic toll of China’s strict COVID Zero policy intensified, pulling the movement of Asia-Pacific stocks today.

Chinese authorities extended the curb to other areas of the country. They now ordered mandatory tests in a district of Beijing and locked down some areas of the capital.

Market participants worried about the potential impact of coronavirus restrictions on growth in the world’s second-largest economy. The region has already shown signs of slowing down due to a property crisis and increased tech regulation.

Then, the benchmark CSI 300 skidded 2.19% or 87.95 points to the 3,925.30 mark. This decline is the biggest slide in the index in the past two weeks.

In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite index plummeted 2.55% or 78.66 points to the 3,008.26 mark.

Similarly, the Shenzhen Component sank 3.11% or 343.82 points to $10,707.88 per share. In South Korea, the KOSPI edged down 1.46% or 39.43 points to the 2,665.28 mark.

Asia-Pacific stocks down; Nikkei 225 shed 2%

A sell-off in Asia-Pacific stocks continues to deepen, with Japan’s Nikkei slashing 1.82% or 494.05 points to the 26,611.21 mark.

In addition, the broader TOPIX index dragged 1.47% or 28.00 points to the 1,877.15 mark.

Subsequently, SoftBank Group slumped 7.32% or 3.07 points to $39.02 per share. Earlier this month, the company stated its plans to slow down its investments following a crash in tech holdings.

Nissan Motor also decreased by 4.64% or 0.19 points to $3.98 per share. The stock plunged following a report that top shareholder Renault may consider lowering its stake in the Japanese automaker.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index lowered 1.57% or 119.50 points to the 7,473.30 mark.