SINGAPORE: Asian stocks fell to a six-week low on Thursday as investors sold companies caught in a widening Chinese tech crackdown, while a surprising hint at monetary easing in China raised questions about the strength of the global pandemic recovery.
MSCI's index of Asia shares outside Japan fell 1% to its lowest since late May, led by a 2.3% drop in the Hang Seng, where one-time darlings Tencent and Alibaba slumped to year-to-date lows.
Japan's Nikkei fell 0.6%, S&P 500 futures fell 0.2% and Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.1%.
The tech index in Hong Kong, where several of China's biggest online giants are listed, has tanked nearly 12% in seven straight sessions of losses as investors become more and more alarmed at the growing ambit of China's crackdown.
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