SYDNEY: Asian shares were hammered on Thursday as a slump in global tech stocks sent investors fleeing into less risky assets, including short-dated bonds, the yen and Swiss franc.
Chinese stocks were given little support after the country's central bank sprang a surprise cut in longer-term rates, adding to a recent rush of stimulus measures.
The sell-off in stocks saw investors ramp up bets on rate cuts globally, with futures implying a 100 per cent chance of a Federal Reserve easing in September. A spike in market volatility fuelled a vicious squeeze on carry trades which saw the dollar sink another 0.6 per cent to 152.85 yen on Thursday.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 0.7 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei tumbled 2.9 per cent and South Korea's KOSPI dropped 2 per cent. Taiwan's markets were closed for a second day due to a typhoon.
Chinese blue-chips pared earlier losses to be down 0.1 per cent, although the Shanghai Composite index was still off 0.3 per cent, hitting five-month lows.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.6 per cent, finding little support from Beijing's latest easing step.
On Wall Street, the Nasdaq lost almost 4 per cent - the worst one-day fall since 2022 - as lacklustre Alphabet and Tesla earnings undermined investor confidence in the already lofty valuations of the "Magnificent Seven" stocks.
That added to recent market volatility, with Wall Street's fear gauge jumping to a three-month high. Investors looked for the safety of cash and super-liquid short term debt, with U.S. two-year yields hitting their lowest in almost six months on Wednesday.
In early Asian trade, Nasdaq futures rebounded 0.4 per cent and S&P 500 stock futures rose 0.3 per cent.
"Traders have played outright defence, as the saturated and well-owned tech position continues to be unwound," said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone.
"We can also add an ongoing unease around China's growth trajectory, very poor PMIs in Europe and a bearish opinion piece from ex-New York Fed member Bill Dudley, and investors and traders derisked and de-grossed portfolios."
The other big mover in Asia was the safe-haven yen, up 0.6 per cent to the strongest in 2-1/2 months. It surged 1.1 per cent overnight, with the upward momentum intact ahead of the Bank of Japan's meeting next week where policymakers will debate whether or not to raise interest rates.
The Swiss franc also rose 0.7 per cent overnight.
Short-dated bonds rallied overnight, supported by comments from Bill Dudley, a former president at the New York Fed that the central bank should cut rates, preferably at its policy meeting next week.
The yield on two-year Treasuries fell 4 basis points overnight and was last steady at 4.4121 per cent.
Markets are fully pricing in a quarter-point rate cut from the Fed in September, with even some risk for a 50 basis point cut. For all of 2024, a total easing of 65 basis points has been priced in.
"The rate cut expectations are getting very elevated the same way as they were last year," said Andrew Lilley, chief rates strategist at Barreyjoey in Sydney.
"My worry is that the market is getting ahead of the economic data because we have seen previously that these short-term dips in inflation haven't been sustained."
Indeed, advance U.S. gross domestic product data is due later on Thursday and is forecast to show growth picking up to an annualised 2 per cent in the second quarter. The closely watched Atlanta Fed GDPNow indicator points to growth of 2.6 per cent, suggesting some risk to the upside.
In commodity markets, gold fell 0.9 per cent to US$2,375.92 an ounce.
Oil prices ticked lower and held near six-week lows on worries about a slowing Chinese economy crimping demand.
Brent futures fell 0.4 per cent to US$81.81 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude also dropped 0.3 per cent to US$77.33.