Asian equities decline due to tech losses as concerns about rates and inflation grow

Amid ongoing concerns about sticky inflation and rising interest rates, the majority of Asian equities slumped on Thursday. The technology sector saw the worst losses as investors also locked in recent profits.

Before this week's important economic data, worries about rising interest rates persisted, and Wall Street, which dropped on Wednesday due to tech losses and some dismal profits, gave regional markets a poor lead-in.

With attention firmly focused on the impending GDP and PCE price index data—the Federal Reserve's favoured inflation gauge—due on Thursday and Friday, respectively, U.S. stock index futures experienced prolonged declines in Asian trading.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong, and the KOSPI in South Korea were the worst-performing tech-heavy indices in Asian trade, falling between 1% and 1.5%.

Investors locked in recent gains in the sector, and an earlier rise in the sector, spurred by excitement around artificial intelligence, now seemed to be winding down.

With losses of around 0.2% for both the Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen CSI 300 indices, Chinese equities declined comparatively less than their regional counterparts.

The People's Bank, which promised more steps to promote economic growth, helped to somewhat improve sentiment towards the nation. The pledges follow a slew of financial and regulatory actions Beijing announced last month to support economic expansion. The Chinese markets had an incredible run in response to these policies as well, albeit it seemed to be waning in recent days.

Important Chinese purchasing managers index data, which is coming on Friday, is another area of focus this week.

(Sources: investing.com, reuters.com)