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Asia-Pacific markets are set to fall on Wednesday, tracking declines on Wall Street after a sell-off in technology stocks picked up pace.
Japanese markets will be in focus for investors, with the Bank of Japan poised to announce its monetary policy decision later in the day. The central bank is widely expected to hold interest rates steady at 0.5%.
Other data points expected out of Japan include its export and import figures for February. A Reuters poll estimates that exports will increase 12.1% year-on-year, from 7.3% in January, while imports are expected to edge up 0.1% from 16.2% in the month before.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 was set to open lower, with the futures contract in Chicago at 37,630, while its counterpart in Osaka last traded at 37,520, against the index’s last close of 37,845.42.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 24,716, pointing to a slightly weaker open compared to the HSI’s close of 24,740.57.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 started the day 0.61% lower.
Overnight in the U.S., stocks were back in the red after two straight winning sessions.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 260.32 points, or 0.62%, closing at 41,581.31. The S&P 500 shed 1.07%, ending at 5,614.66. The broad market index concluded the day 8.6% off its closing high reached in February, bringing it near correction territory. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.71% and settled at 17,504.12.
Tesla, one of the stocks hardest hit during the market’s recent correction, was down yet again on Tuesday. The stock fell more than 5% after RBC Capital Markets lowered its price target on the electric vehicle name, given stiff competition in the EV space.
Elsewhere, shares of Palantir and Nvidia dropped nearly 4% and more than 3%, respectively. The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) was also down more than 1%.
— CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Alex Harring contributed to this report.
