Asia down as Wall Street knocked by tech sell-off, dollar sags

By Shinichi Saoshiro

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian stock markets slipped on Tuesday, extending sharp overnight losses on Wall Street as technology firms bore the brunt of worries about slackening demand, while the dollar sagged after weak U.S. data further sapped confidence in the currency.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.3 percent.

Australian stocks <.AXJO> lost 0.7 percent and tech-heavy South Korean shares dropped 0.9 percent.

In Seoul, Samsung Electronics fell 2.1 percent and SK Hynix Inc dropped 3 percent, while Japan's Tokyo Electron was down 2.5 percent, Advantest lost 1.8 percent and Sony Corp shed 2.8 percent.

Japan's Nikkei <.N225> was down 1 percent. Shares of Nissan Motor Co tumbled roughly 6 percent after its Chairman Carlos Ghosn was arrested on Monday for alleged financial misconduct and will be fired from the board this week.

U.S. stocks came under heavy selling on Monday, with Nasdaq tumbling 3 percent, as investors dumped Apple , internet and other technology shares. Conflicting signals between the United States and China on their trade dispute added to caution. [.N]

"The drop by U.S. stocks will cut short any attempt by equity markets to mount a sustained bounce. Investor sentiment has been subdued by lingering weakness in U.S. technology shares," said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management in Tokyo.

Worries of a peak in corporate earnings growth amid rising borrowing costs, slowing global economic momentum and international trade tensions triggered a shakeout in stocks over the past two months, with trillions of dollars worth of equity losses in a particularly torrid October month.

In currencies, the dollar struggled at a near two-week low against a basket of currencies.

The greenback was hit after data released on Monday showed U.S. home builder sentiment recorded its steepest one-month drop in over 4-1/2 years in November.

The dollar had also been weighed down after Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida and Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan late last week raised concerns over a potential global slowdown.

The U.S. currency has rallied strongly this year, buoyed by three Fed rate hikes and a robust economy, though some expect the bull run may be nearing an end.

With long-term U.S. Treasury yields slipping to a seven-week low of 3.052 percent in the wake of weaker stocks and U.S. housing data, the dollar index against a basket of six major currencies hovered near 96.120, an 11-day low plumbed on Monday.

The euro was little changed at $1.1455 after gaining 0.35 percent overnight.

The dollar slipped to a three-week low of 112.40 yen and last traded at 112.48.

U.S. crude futures gained 0.3 percent to $57.36, adding to the previous day's gains, supported by a reported drawdown of U.S. oil inventories, potential European Union sanctions on Iran and possible OPEC production cuts. [O/R]

(Editing by Shri Navaratnam)