Shipbuilder’s shares likely affected by a drop in Maersk earnings, potential layoffs
[SINGAPORE] Asian markets took a beating at the open on Friday (Feb 6) after a new round of heavy selling hit US tech stocks and crypto.
Yangzijiang Shipbuilding was the worst hit on the Singapore Exchange as at 9.30 am, with a 5.3 per cent drop erasing over S$700 million in its market capitalisation.
The shipbuilder’s shares were likely affected by a drop in Maersk earnings and plans for the Danish shipping company to cut 1,000 jobs. Shares of Maersk in Copenhagen fell 3.7 per cent by close.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index (STI) dropped 0.7 per cent in the first 30 minutes of trading, with red across the board. Shares of DBS were down about 0.9 per cent, OCBC dropped 0.8 per cent and Singtel slipped 1.9 per cent as at 9.30 am.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 2 per cent immediately upon market open, while Shanghai’s CSI 300 opened 1 per cent lower.
South Korea’s Kospi was down 3.9 per cent at 10.30 am local time, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Topix were down 0.8 and 0.1 per cent, respectively.
This followed the tech-heavy S&P 500 in the US falling 1.2 per cent, and the similarly tech-focused Nasdaq 100 saw its worst three-day drop since April.
Bitcoin, the most popular and valuable cryptocurrency, tumbled to around US$63,000 in a sell-off that has seen its value drop about 50 per cent in just three months.
Precious metals such as silver slumped about 20 per cent.
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