Nowthat $4.3 trn wipeout in Asian stocks is getting deeper

It was looking like a week of wound-licking for Asian stocks. Then crude oil entered a bear market and alarm bells rang on China’s slowdown as tech stocks plunged. Just like that, the region’s equity benchmark erased weekly gains and is now heading for a sixth slide in seven weeks, only worsening the wipeout that already erased $4.3 trillion of market value this year. Of note: energy companies are, by far, the biggest decliners, followed by tech shares as Tencent Holdings sank almost 4 per cent. Watch for its quarterly results next week — analysts expect the giant will report its slowest revenue increase in more than three years. One thing that might be worth watching is data around China’s consumption — car sales fell for a fifth month and and Ctrip.com International joined the likes of Baidu and Alibaba Group Holding in being unable to avoid the economic slowdown.