Tech chills spill into Asia, as shares sink across region

Asian shares slid further Wednesday after a sell-off of big technology stocks on Wall Street pulled U.S. benchmarks lower. Crude oil prices and Treasury yields also weakened.

Australia’s benchmark led regional declines on Wednesday, losing more than 2%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.2%.

Troubles with Astra-Zeneca’s coronavirus vaccine trial and simmering China-U.S. tensions also have rattled investors.

The pharmaceutical company said it had halted the trial while assessing a single adverse reaction to its COVID-19 vaccine.

“At a minimum, the optimism balloon floated by vaccine hopes has sprung a sizable leak," Stephen Innes of AxiCorp. said in a commentary.

Talk by President Donald Trump of “decoupling” the U.S. economy from China, as the presidential campaign heats up has ramped up uncertainty as Washington seeks to limit use of U.S. technology by Chinese companies, citing national security concerns.

The relationship between the world’s two largest economies has been on edge for years, and the antagonism threatens to further undermine global growth at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has pushed many countries into recession.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 lost 278.50 points to 22,996.24 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong dropped 1% to 24,385.51. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 tumbled 2.3% to 5,867.30 and the Shanghai Composite index shed 1.4% to 3,280.96. South Korea's Kospi fell 0.7% to 2,385.91.

Among big losers in the technology sector were SoftBank Group Corp., which fell 3.5%, Alibaba Group Holding, whose shares fell 2.7% in Hong Kong and semiconductor maker SMIC. which lost 1.9%.

Shares also fell in Taiwan and most of Southeast Asia.

Overnight, the S&P 500 fell 2.8% to 3,331.84, clinching its first three-day losing streak in nearly three months. Nearly 90% of...