ASX 200 drags Asia lower, Nikkei falls on firmer yen

By FXStreet Asian stocks extended losses from the previous session, tracking the negative lead from the Wall Street overnight. While the sentiment also soured after the oil prices resumed declines on no hopes for output cuts.

ASX 200 weighed down by banking, energy stocks

The Japanese benchmark index, the Nikkei 225 turned in the red once again, down -0.65% at 15,948 points. The exporters’ stocks suffered the most on the ongoing strength in the yen, while the energy stocks also took a beating as oil fell almost 5% following after Iran’s oil minister ridiculed output freeze talks. Meanwhile, USD/JPY drops below 112 handle, down 0.14% so far.

The Australian markets nose-dived this Wednesday and led the decline in other Asian indices, with the ASX 200 index sinking -1.61% to 4,899. Sharp losses witnessed in the heavily-weighted banking stocks combined with falling resource and energy stocks led the sell-off in the region’s stock markets. Australia’s biggest banks were down 2-3%, while BHP Billiton plunged 6%, Fortescue Metals dropped 3.8% and AWE plummeted 7%.

While the Chinese equities erased initial gains and fell in the red, with the Shanghai Composite down -0.22%, Shenzhen’s CSI300 also trades 0.25% lower. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng sinks -1.22%.
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Source:: FX Street