Asian stocks drop over Ukraine fears

Asian stocks closed lower Wednesday over fears of escalation of the conflict in Ukraine with Russia increasing it troops on the border as well as the situation in the Middle East.

Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 160.52 points (-1.05%)to close at 15,159.79, Sydney dropped 6.6 points (-0.12%) to finish at 5,512.0, and Seoul shed 5.53 points (-0.27%) to 2,060.73.
Hong Kong dropped 64.13 points (-0.26%) to end at 24,584.13, while Shanghai slipped by 2.48 points (-0.11%) to close at 2,217.47. Shenzhen picked up 4.57 points (+0.39%) to end at 1,177.33.
In Australia, the benchmark S and P/ASX 200 Index and the broader All Ordinaries Index each dipped 0.1% on Wednesday to 5,512 points and 5,504 points respectively.
In Mumbai, Bombay Stock Exchange’s benchmark S&P BSE Sensex dropped 242.74 points (-0.94%) to close at 25,665.27 points.
Today 3,091 scripts were traded. From the 5,443 listed companies 1,490 advanced and 1,479 declined while 122 remained unchanged.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 139.81 points (-0.84%) to 16,429.47. The broad-based S and P 500 fell 18.78 (-0.97%) to 1,920.21, while the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 31.05 points (-0.71%) to 4,352.84 points.
The drop follows heavy losses at the end of July, which saw the Dow shed its gains for the year in its worst week since January, and the S and P 500 record its biggest weekly decline since mid-2012. (