Tech sell-off pushes Asia down
(CNN) -- Asian markets are sharply lower Wednesday afternoon, led by hefty falls in Tokyo as investors sell technology issues in line with Wall Street's losses.
Record high oil prices are also dampening investor sentiment, with U.S. crude futures touching $44.25 a barrel.
Both the Nikkei and the Topix are down more than 2 percent in early afternoon trade in Japan, with heavy losses for banks, along with techs.
South Korea is down 1.3 percent, and Taiwan and Hong Kong are both about 1 percent lower.
There are smaller falls for Australia and Singapore, while New Zealand is steady.
The dollar is firmer against the Japanese yen.
The Nikkei 225 stock average is down 2.18 percent at 11,898.27 in afternoon trade. On Tuesday, the index lost 0.73 percent.
The broader Topix index of all first section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange is 2.25 percent lower to 1101.62. The Topix fell 0.76 percent the day before.
Japanese high-tech shares such as Kyocera, Canon and Advantest lead the losses following weakness in their U.S. counterparts.
Kyocera is down 4.5 percent to 8030 yen and NEC is 3 percent in the red at 668 yen. Advantest is 3.6 percent lower to 6370 yen.
Canon is down 2 percent to 5280 yen, while Fujitsu, Toshiba and Hitachi are also about 2 percent lower.
Automakers are also down, with a fall of 0.9 percent for Toyota and 0.75 percent for Honda.
In the banking sector, MTFG and UFJ are both down almost 5 percent, while Mizuho is off 3 percent and SMFG is 0.8 percent lower to 633,000 yen.
In Seoul, the Kospi is 1.3 percent lower to 716.93.
Samsung Electronics is off 2 percent to 404,000 won. But big exporter Hyundai Motor is a rare gainer, up 1.1 percent to 44,200 won after Tuesday's drop.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 is off 0.3 percent to 3543.3. Market heavyweight News Corp has lost 1 percent to A$12.17 and leading bank NAB has slipped again, down 1.2 percent to A$26.72.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index is 1.3 percent lower to 12,186.97. China Mobile is down more than 2 percent.
In Singapore the Straits Times index is down about 0.27 percent to 1906.54, with falls for SingTel and Singapore Airlines.
Taiwan's Taiex is 1.22 percent lower to 5301.90. Chip makers TSMC and UMC are in the red.
Wall Street tumbled Tuesday amid higher oil prices and a report of a sharp drop in consumer spending. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.6 percent to 10,120.24 and the Nasdaq composite index fell 1.7 percent to 1,859.42. (Full story)
The dollar was quoted at 111.20 yen in Tokyo Wednesday, up from the 110.56 yen it bought in New York Tuesday.
