In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index ended trading for the day sharply down 472.95 points, or 1.99 percent, to close at 23,237.74.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index lost 2.13 percent to end at 8,410.94 while the Hang Seng Tech Index dipped 2.42 percent to close at 5,088.32.
Tech and healthcare sectors were among biggest losers, down 2.4 percent and 3.2 percent respectively.
Seasoning maker Foshan Haitian Flavouring surged as much as 4.7 percent in its first day of trading in Hong Kong.
The market’s losses came as the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said the outlook for the direction of the Hong Kong dollar and for interbank rates remains uncertain due to carry trades and other factors.
The city’s de-facto central bank made the comments in response to the US Federal Reserve’s overnight decision to keep rates unchanged.
Up north, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ended down 0.79 percent at 3,362.11 while the Shenzhen Component Index closed 1.21 percent lower at 10,051.97.
The combined turnover of these two indices stood at over 1.25 trillion yuan, up from 1.19 trillion yuan on the previous trading day.
Shares in the chemical fiber, apparel and transportation sectors suffered the most, while those related to oil, media and entertainment rallied.
The ChiNext Index, tracking China’s Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, lost 1.36 percent to close at 2,026.82.
Weakness was across the board, with the CSI rare earth sector sub-index down 1.9 percent, the real estate index down 1.7 percent and the defence sub-index down 1.8 percent.
Sentiment across the region remained weak as geopolitical conflicts showed no sign of easing, with Iran and Israel exchanging further air strikes on Thursday, while the United States weighed the possibility of joining the attacks on Iran.
Meanwhile, this week’s much-hyped Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai offered few fresh measures to bolster the market, also leaving investors in search of policy direction.
The market is now “switching back to defensive mode”, with indexes and volume both weak, analysts at Goldman Sachs said in a client note.
Though sentiment has improved after a Sino-US trade truce last month in Geneva, China’s long-term prospects remain in doubt, according to the Bank of America’s latest fund manager survey.
The survey noted that most fund managers in Asia still expect a structural de-rating to get underway in the world’s second-largest economy. (Reuters/Xinhua)
