Asian shares skid after tech sell-off on Wall Street

BANGKOK — Shares dropped Tuesday in Asia after selling of several Big Tech companies pulled U.S. benchmarks lower.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 sank 3.1% and Hong Kong lost 2% while Shanghai advanced.

Despite reassurances from the Federal Reserve and a much weaker than expected U.S. jobs reading last week, investors have refocused on the potential for surging prices to pressure central banks into tapering off on their massive stimulus and ultra-low interest rates, analysts said.

“Investors seem to look past the jobs report and continue to place their focus on the inflation narrative with rising commodities prices and chip shortages in play,” Jun Rong Yeap of IG said in a commentary.

China reported its strongest increase in producer prices since October 2017 last month, as supply constraints cascaded into manufacturing.

China’s economy was the first to recover from the pandemic and the central…