Tokyo Nikkei 225 down 4.24%, S&P ASX 200 down 1.88% (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Tokyo , 04 Sep - Asian shares closed sharply lower after yesterday's weak session, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down 1.95%.

The region's stock markets tracked losses on Wall Street overnight, with US stocks posting yesterday the worst sell-off in almost a month following soft US manufacturing data, weighing on global sentiment.

Investors now braced for the closely watched US jobs report is due on Friday, that could influence the US Federal Reserve's interest rate decision.

In Asian stock market dealings chipmakers weighed as US giant Nvidia suffered yesterday the biggest one-day drop ever, wiping out 279 billion dollars in market cap.

In Seoul South Korean memory chip maker SK Hynix slumped 8.14% and conglomerate Samsung Electronics slid 3.17%, while in Japanese dealings Tokyo Electron sank 8.55% while semiconductor testing equipment supplier Advantest dipped 7.74%.

Australian gross domestic product (GDP) rose 0.2%, on a seasonally adjusted, chain volume measure basis, in the June quarter and by 1.5% in the 2023-24 financial year, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The Nikkei index closed down 4.24% at 37,047 points. In Sydney the S&P ASX 200 closed down 1.88% at 7,950 points, while in Seoul the KOSPI closed down 3.15% at 2,580 points .

The Shanghai Composite index was down 0.61% at 2,785 points and the Hong Kong Hang Seng index was down 1.33% at 17,417 points. In Mumbai the Sensex index slid 0.51% to 82,132 points.

Most Asian markets posted a monthly loss in August after a sharp drop at the beginning of the month.

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(RADIOCOR) 04-09-24 08:53:01 (0163) 5 NNNN