Morning Briefing: Tech sector sell-off spreads to Asia

Tech sector sell-off spreads to Asia

A sell-off of technology sector stocks saw a plunge for North American markets in the previous session and spread to Asian markets Friday.

The dumping of tech stocks outweighed positive PMI news for China’s manufacturers and better-than-expected results for Japan’s housing market. Most markets closed lower.

European markets are flat-to-slightly higher so far Friday with a subdued tone created earlier in the week by hawkish tones of several central banks, including Canada, suggesting that interest rates will be on the rise in many economies this year.

Eurozone inflation edged higher and UK GDP data held steady.

Wall Street and Toronto are expected to open higher after plunging in the previous session. Canadian GDP data is due.
 

	Latest	1 month ago	1 year ago
North America (previous session)
US Dow Jones	21,287.03 (-0.78 per cent)	+1.33 per cent	+18.72 per cent
TSX Composite	15,213.42 (-0.93 per cent)	-0.89 per cent	+8.17 per cent
Europe (at 5.00am ET)
UK FTSE	7,352.53 (+0.03 per cent)	-2.23 per cent	+13.04 per cent
German DAX	12,445.00 (+0.23 per cent)	-1.35 per cent	+28.56 per cent
Asia (at close)
China CSI 300	3,666.80 (-0.06 per cent)	+4.98 per cent	+16.26 per cent
Japan Nikkei	20,033.43 (-0.92 per cent)	+1.95 per cent	+28.62 per cent
Other Data (at 5.00am ET)
Oil (Brent)	Oil (WTI)	Gold	Can. Dollar
47.66 (+0.51 per cent)	45.26 (+0.73 per cent)	1243.40 (-0.19 per cent)	U$0.7698
			Aus. Dollar
			U$0.7683

Indian economy expects boost from tax reforms

The fast-growing economy in India is set for a boost from tax reforms starting this weekend.

The current web of different regional sales taxes will be replaced by a goods and services tax nationwide and experts believe it will be the most significant tax change in the country since it became independent 60 years ago.

HSBC economist Pranjul Bhandari estimates the change will add 40 basis points to India’s GDP.