Asian Markets Decline on Germany’s Decision to Ban Naked Short Selling

Asian markets were broadly lower Wednesday after shares on Wall Street dropped Tuesday on Germany’s decision to ban naked short selling in certain financial instruments.

• Japan’s Nikkei was down 1%
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 1.6%
• South Korea’s Kospi Composite fell 1.6%
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 1.1%
• Taiwan’s main index was off 0.8% but the Shanghai Composite index had turned higher by midday and was up 0.3%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 62 points lower in screen trade – WSJ