SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia tumbled on Monday, as major markets in the region saw sharp losses of more than 2% amid a tech sell-off.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan dropped 2.8%, and shares of conglomerate SoftBank Group sliding more than 4%. The Topix index fell 2.2%.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 2.8%, led by tech shares like Samsung Electronics which declined 2.04% while Kakao dipped 3.62%. In Taiwan, the Taiex fell 2.3% as TSMC’s stock slipped 2.26%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded more than 2% lower.
The losses in Asia came as U.S. Treasury yields rose in the morning of Asia trading hours. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield climbed to 3.1892% while the yield on the 2-year Treasury surged to 3.1464%.
Markets in Australia are closed on Monday for a holiday.
Later this week, a slew of Chinese economic data including industrial production and retail sales for May will be out on Wednesday.
The U.S. Fed is also expected to announce its interest rate decision later this week. That comes after Friday’s hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data release.
Dollar-yen approaches 135
The Japanese yen traded at 134.88 per dollar, just off the 135 level after weakening from levels below 132 against the greenback last week.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 104.525 after recently crossing the 104 level.
The Australian dollar was at $0.7009 after dropping from above $0.72 last week.
Oil prices were lower in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures down 1.4% to $120.3 per barrel. U.S. crude futures shed 1.42% to $118.97 per barrel.
