Asian shares track Wall Street’s inflation-fueled retreat

By ELAINE KURTENBACH
AP Business Writer

TOKYO (AP) — Shares are sharply lower in Asia after a broad retreat on Wall Street. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng led the declines, dropping 3.1%, while Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index was 2.7% lower. The sell-off on Wall Street followed the release of dismal results from retailer Target that renewed fears inflation is battering U.S. companies. The S&P 500, the benchmark for many index funds, fell 4%. Target lost a quarter of its value, dragging other retailers lower, after saying its profit fell by half in the latest quarter as costs for freight and transportation spiked. A day earlier, Walmart cited inflation for its own weak results. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 3.6% and the Nasdaq tumbled 4.7%.