Investing.com - Asian stocks fell in Thursday trade, mirroring declines on Wall Street on concerns over ongoing struggles to rein in European debt.
During early Asian trade, Japan’s Nikkei Index retreated 0.8%, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1.39% to 3,979.40.
The Topix Index of all shares listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, gave up 0.66% to trade at 748.92.
The Hong Kong Exchange on Thursday said it would be delaying the opening of its securities and derivatives market after a signal 8 typhoon signal was issued.
The exchange said it will cancel morning trading for all markets if the signal remains at 8 or above by noon Hong Kong time.
On Wednesday, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry reported that retail sales fell more than expected in August, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of -2.6%, down from 0.6% the previous month
Economist’s has forecast a -0.8% drop last month.
In Europe, Finance officials from the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund were to decide whether additional changes may be necessary to the European Financial Stability Facility.
Officials said they would be holding an extra meeting in October to discuss the Greek situation and assess Greece’s compliant with terms for a bailout announced in July.
Earlier Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Barnanke said that the ailing U.S. labor market was a “national crisis that required attention from Congress and the White House.”
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“We’ve had close to 10% unemployment now for a number of years, and of the people are unemployed, about 45% have been unemployed for six months or more. This is unheard of,” Bernanke added.
Earlier Wednesday, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that core durable goods orders fell in August to a seasonally adjusted -0.1, down from 0.7% the previous month.
Economists had forecast the figure to rise 0.2% last month.
Wall Street endured its first losing session in three, as Greek debt concerns and a dim corporate profit outlook sparked aggressive sell-offs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.61% to 11,010.90, the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 2.17% to 2,491.59, and the S&P 500 shed 2.07% to close at 1,151.06.
In Sydney, mining and energy shares were lower with BHP Billiton Ltd. down 2.5% and Rio Tinto Ltd. off by 3.26%.
Lower oil prices also hit energy stocks in Tokyo, with JX Holdings Inc. down 2.3% and Inpex Corp. lower by 1.9%.
The outlook for European stocks was pessimistic. France’s CAC 40 futures was lower by 0.55% to 2,945.60, Britain’s FTSE 100 futures shed 0.46% to 5,112.80, while Germany’s DAX futures fell 0.49% to 5,495.00.