Stock market today: Asian shares sink, weighed down by Wall St tech retreat, China policy questions

Asian shares fell on Friday after a broad slump on Wall Street sent U.S. stocks tumbling. Hong Kong’s benchmark also fell more than 2 percent as investors remained wary of China’s plans to help its ailing property sector.

US futures rose as oil prices fell.

Chinese officials briefed reporters in Beijing on the outcome of a summit of the ruling Communist Party, which provides some details of the vast plan the country has adopted to make China a leader in technology, develop its financial markets and raise living standards.

Their explanations remained relatively vague, though more details are expected in the coming weeks. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng lost 1.8% to 17,458.64, while the Shanghai Composite index reversed early losses and gained 0.2% to close at 2,9782.53.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 lost 0.2% to 40,063.79, while South Korea’s Kospi lost 1% to 2,795.46. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.8% to 7,971.60.

In Taiwan, the Taiex fell 2.3% as shares of computer chip maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. fell 3.5% on a report that Washington may impose tighter restrictions on sales of semiconductors and the equipment used to make and test them to China.

U.S.-traded shares of TSMC rose 0.4% on Thursday after the industrial giant reported stronger quarterly earnings than analysts had expected, recovering from an 8% loss the day before, but only after swinging between gains and losses.

The decline in the technology sector this week has dragged down markets in the US and Asia after a series of strong gains.

European indices showed a mixed picture on Thursday after the The European Central Bank has left its key interest rate unchanged.

On Wall Street, the S&The P 500 fell 0.8% to 5,544.59. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.3% to 40,665.02 and the Nasdaq fell 0.7% to 17,871.22.

As they did the day before, when the Nasdaq fell to its all-time high biggest loss since 2022several Big Tech stocks led the market lower. Declines of 2% for Apple, 2.2% for Amazon and 0.7% for Microsoft were three of the heaviest weights on the S&P 500.

But shares of chip makers stabilized. Nvidia rose 2.9%, extending its gain for the year to nearly 145%.

Earlier this year, there was a surge for Nvidia and some of the other handful of stocks that came to light as the “Magnificent Seven” may have been enough to support the rest of the market as their stock prices soared amid a madness surrounding artificial intelligence technologywhile other stocks struggled with pressure from higher interest rates and slowing economic growth.

The majority of the shares within the S&P500 fell, with Domino’s Pizza suffering the biggest loss, down 13.6% despite beating analysts’ expectations for spring earnings. The pizza chain temporarily suspended its forecast for the number of stores it will open globally in the long term.

Darden RestaurantsThe company behind Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse and other chains, fell 3%. The company said it would buy the Chuy’s Tex-Mex chain in an all-cash deal that would value it at $605 million. Chuy’s shares rose 47.8%

There were mixed reports about the US economy on Thursday. One report said more employees applied for unemployment benefits last week than economists had expected. That could point to a softening labor market, though the numbers remain low compared to history. A separate report said manufacturing in the Mid-Atlantic region is growing much better than economists had expected.

Recent encouraging reports on have inflation increased expectations the Federal Reserve may begin cutting interest rates in September after holding its benchmark interest rate at its highest level in more than two decades. Investors are hoping the economy can remain in a “Goldilocks” state, where it is neither so hot that it puts upward pressure on inflation nor so cold that it falls into recession.

Expectations of stronger corporate earnings growth also contributed to market gains.

In other trading, benchmark U.S. crude oil lost 52 cents to $80.78 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday morning.

Brent crude, the international standard, fell 36 cents to $84.75 a barrel.

The US dollar rose to 157.48 Japanese yen from 157.37 yen. The euro fell to 1.0885 dollars from 1.0897.