Asia-Pacific markets opened lower on Wednesday, taking a cue from rising U.S. government bond yields that paused a recent global rally.
As of 11:35 am AEDT (12:35 am GMT), Australia’s ASX 200 dropped 1.3%, South Korea’s Kospi 200 declined 0.7%, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.5%.
U.S. stocks slipped from record highs on Tuesday, as the Dow Jones fell 0.9% to close at 43,911, the S&P 500 declined 0.3% to 5,984, and the Nasdaq Composite edged down 0.1% to 19,281.4.
Within the S&P 500, Tyson Foods led gains, rising 6.5%, followed by DexCom Inc, up 5.7%, and Live Nation Entertainment, which gained 4.7%.
The top decliners included The Mosaic Co., down 7.8%, GE Vernova Inc, which lost 7.5%, and Amgen Inc, declining 7.1%.
Tuesday’s session marked the first decline in the S&P 500 since election day, temporarily stalling a rally across equities and cryptocurrencies.
In commodities, Brent crude remained steady at US$71.80 per barrel, while gold dropped 0.8% to $2,598.29 per ounce.
Bitcoin also continued its historic rally, easing 0.3% to US$86,999.
Chinese equities also closed lower, with the Shanghai Composite Index falling 1.4% to 3,421.97 and the CSI 300 down 45.4 points to 1.1% to 4,085.7.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index shed 2.8%, ending at 19,846.88.
In India, the BSE Sensex dropped 1%, settling at 78,675.18.
European markets mirrored the global trend, with the UK’s FTSE 100 Index down 1.2% to 8,025.8. Germany’s DAX declined 2.1% to 19,033.6, and France’s CAC 40 dropped 2.7% to close at 7,227.