Foreign Markets

Japanese markets led regional losses as tech stocks lost ground and the yen rose to its strongest level against the dollar in 2-1/2 months on BOJ rate hike bets.

The Nikkei average tumbled 3.28 percent to 37,869.51, hitting a three-month low and posting its biggest daily decline in three years. The broader Topix index settled 2.98 percent lower at 2,709.86.

Technology investor SoftBank Group plunged 9.4 percent while chip-related stocks such as Advantest and Tokyo Electron gave up 5-6 percent.

Renesas Electronics nosedived 13.6 percent after reporting a 29 percent decline in half-year profit. Nissan Motor plunged 7 percent after a profit warning.

Services producer prices in Japan were up 3.0 percent on year in June, the Bank of Japan said on Thursday - accelerating from the upwardly revised 2.7 percent increase in May (originally 2.5 percent).

On a monthly basis, producer prices were flat for a second straight month.

Excluding international transportation, services producer prices were also flat on month and up 3.0 percent on year.

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