South Korea and Japan lead losses as Asia sees broad sell-off; Australia shares hit one-year low

Asian market saw a broad sell-off, with Japan and South Korean benchmark indexes leading losses in the region, while Australia shares touched a low not seen in over a year.

South Korea’s Kospi index slipped 2.23%, while the Kosdaq index shed 2.35%.

This comes as shares of South Korean chip supplier SK Hynix dropped after announcing a 2.18 trillion won ($1.61 billion) net loss for the third quarter, in contrast to a 1.11 trillion won net profit in the same period a year ago.

South Korea’s gross domestic product grew 0.6% in the third quarter from the prior quarter, a slightly higher-than-expected pace compared to a Reuters poll.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 2.13% and the Topix index dropped 1.57%. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.91%, hitting its lowest point since Oct. 31, 2022.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dipped 0.79%, while China’s benchmark CSI 300 index dropped 0.62% at the open.

The S&P 500 closed below a key level on Wednesday after disappointing quarterly results from Google-parent Alphabet and a rebound in interest rates.

The benchmark index fell 1.43% to close at 4,186.77, ending the day below the 4,200 level that was being widely watched by chart analysts. It was the first time the S&P 500 closed below this threshold since May. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 105.45 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 2.43%.

— CNBC’s Brian Evans and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report.