Japan's Nikkei paced a steep sell-off in Asian stocks amid revived Chinese demand concerns
Asian markets ended broadly lower today, following Wall Street's bearish lead. Traders across the region rushed to unload China-exposed shares in the wake of data showing bleak industrial profits from the mainland, while commodity stocks were hammered as demand concerns ramped up. By the close, Japan's Nikkei tumbled 4.1%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell nearly 3%, and China's Shanghai Composite fell just over 2%. Markets in South Korea remain closed for holiday.
European stocks are showing some resilience at midday, with most major equity benchmarks sticking close to the breakeven line. London-listed shares of mining giant Glencore are recovering from Monday's steep 29% sell-off, which was prompted by an analyst note warning of the company's unwieldy debt load. Scandal-beset Volkswagen also remains in focus, with the automaker's shares little changed after getting booted from various global Dow Jones Sustainability Indices. At last look, London's FTSE 100 is down 0.4%, Germany's DAX is down 0.05%, and France's CAC 40 is just 0.01% lower.
