Asian Markets continue slide

Japan’s Nikkei 225 extended its six-day losing streak, plummeting 3% and leading losses among Asian indexes following a broad sell-off triggered by Wall Street’s overnight tumble. Key index member SoftBank Group dropped 7%, while Renesas Electronics led losses, falling over 14%. The broader Topix decreased by 2.24%. The yen strengthened for the fourth consecutive day, reaching an 11-week low of 152.28 against the U.S. dollar.

Reuters reported that the Bank of Japan might discuss a rate hike and plans to halve its bond buying at its monetary policy meeting on July 30-31. Additionally, a Japanese government panel agreed to raise the average minimum hourly wage by 5% to 1,054 yen ($6.90), providing more room for a rate increase amid rising wages.

South Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.8%, with the Kosdaq down 2.32%. SK Hynix fell 6% despite reporting record Q2 revenue and profits. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.65%, and China’s CSI 300 declined 0.98%. China’s central bank cut the medium-term facility lending rate to 2.3% from 2.5% to stimulate the economy.