Pullback in US tech stocks sends jitters throughout Asian stock markets

ASIAN stocks struggled on Friday, after US equities tumbled by the most in almost three months, as nervous investors took profit on tech stocks amid concerns over their lofty valuations.

In New York, the S&P 500 broke a 10-day winning streak and fell 3.5 per cent on Thursday; the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite collapsed by nearly 5 per cent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.8 per cent. However, Gorilla Trades strategist Ken Berman believes the underlying bullish trend remained intact.

In Singapore, the Straits Times Index opened at 2,546.01 and hit an intraday high of 2,546.870. It eventually closed at 2,509.64, down 22.15 points, or 0.87 per cent. A total of 1.64 billion securities, worth S$1.23 billion, changed hands. There were 158 advancers to 278 losers.

Venture Corp mirrored the sell-off in the US. The contract manufacturer hit S$18.99 before closing at S$19.06, down 90 Singapore cents, or 4.5 per cent, with more than 1.7 million shares traded. Similarly, AEM Holding, which designs and makes semiconductor test handlers, closed at S$3.90, down 15 Singapore cents, or 3.7 per cent, with more than 10 million shares traded.

Penny stock Jiutian Chemical was among the actively traded, with more than 97.6 million shares traded. It closed at S0.05, up 0.4 cent, or 9 per cent.

QT Vascular, which is in the midst of a planned reverse takeover, saw a staggering 100 million shares changing hands. Its chief executive officer Eitan Konstantino had been offloading his shares this week, selling a total of 50 million shares, paring his stake to 0.41 per cent, from 2.65 per cent before.