Syria tensions drag Asian stocks lower; Nikkei down 2.29%
Published Aug 27, 2013 10:57PM ET
In Asian trading Wednesday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 2.29%. On Tuesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said earlier the military is ready to take action against Syria if called upon by the White House.
The U.S. insists the Syrian military has used chemical weapons during its internal conflict as have the U.K. and others, a charge Damascus has denied. On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the world would hold Syria accountable for using chemical weapons.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 1.44% while the Shanghai Composite dropped 0.85%. PetroChina, which was halted for news pending during Tuesday’s session, is ensnared in an anti-corruption probe. China’s largest oil producer is also the company’s largest company by market value.
Executives from PetroChina and Kunlun Energy have resigned amid the corruption allegations.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 1.1%. Also on Tuesday, John Edwards, a Reserve Bank of Australia board member said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the Aussie remains too strong. The Aussie is "still a bit too strong to help, to the extent it could, in the transition we need to make," he said in the interview.
New Zealand’s NZSE 50 lost 0.41%. It is believed Western nations are considering military action against Syria with some market observers thinking a missile strike against the Middle East nation coul come as soon as Thursday. OPEC member Iran has warned a strike against Syria could put the entire region into flux.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.52% while Singapore’s Straits Times dipped 1.12%. S&P 500 futures rose 0.24% a day after the benchmark U.S. index plunged 1.25%.
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