Samsung predicts a 50% increase in first-quarter profit as Japan and China stocks decline more than 1%.

• Asia-Pacific markets fell on Thursday following two days of declines on Wall Street.
• JD.com, which is listed on Nasdaq and Hong Kong, announced that Xu Lei will replace founder Richard Liu as CEO of the company, effective immediately.
• Samsung Electronics experienced a 50% increase in operating profit during the first quarter of 2022.

On Thursday, Japan's stocks dropped over 1%, while other Asia-Pacific markets also experienced a decline, following the two consecutive days of falls on Wall Street.

In Japan, the Nikkei index fell 1.69% to 26,888.57, while the Topix index slid 1.56% to 1,892.90. Both indexes dropped nearly 2% earlier in the session before paring some losses. Shares of  dropped 3.36% to 60,180.

The SSE Composite Index fell 1.42% to 3,236.70, while the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index dropped 1.65% to 200.89.

In late trade, Hong Kong's stock market slipped by 1%, while the Hang Seng tech index dropped by 2.38%. The tech shares fell by 4.35%, and Hong Kong shares declined by 1.67%.

UBP's managing director, Vey-Sern Ling, stated that Hong Kong-listed tech stocks are facing a "confluence of headwinds" due to geopolitical tensions with Russia, rising Fed rates, and the potential delisting of Chinese companies in the U.S.

He stated that the valuations in the sector are "extremely low" and there are favorable circumstances for such businesses.

He suggested that taking a longer-term perspective might make gaining some exposure now a more reasonable decision, according to CNBC's "Street Signs Asia" on Thursday.

Richard Liu, founder of the company, has been succeeded as CEO by Xu Lei, who is now the CEO effective immediately. Liu will continue to serve as chairman of the board of directors, while Xu will also be an executive director.

JD's shares in Hong Kong dropped by 3.15% on Thursday after Liu stepped back from daily operations and Xu was appointed president.

Australia’s  was down 0.63% at 7,442.8.

In Korea, the stock market index slipped from 1.43% to 2,695.86 while the Kosdaq index declined from 1.61% to 927.95.

Samsung Electronics is expected to have a 50% increase in its first-quarter 2022 operating profit compared to the previous year, with an estimated profit of 14.1 trillion won ($11.6 billion), according to its earnings guidance.

The company’s stock was down 0.73% at 68,000.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 1.21%.

The Reserve Bank of India will hold its monetary policy meeting on Thursday, as announced in central bank news.

In the U.S., major stock indexes experienced a second day of decline overnight, in response to the Federal Reserve's guidance on tightening monetary policy.

Officials are planning to reduce the balance sheet by $95 billion monthly and anticipate a faster increase in interest rates, according to the fed meeting minutes.

Vishnu Varathan, head of economics and strategy at Mizuho Bank, wrote in a note on Thursday that the aggressive balance sheet run-off likely stole the show and delivered a much larger hawkish jolt to markets.

On Tuesday, the stock price fell about 2.3%, then dropped another 2.22% to 13,888.82, or 0.97% to 4,481.15, and finally slipped 0.42%, or 144.67 points, to 34,496.51.

On Wednesday, the 10-year Treasury yield reached a three-year high of 2.65% before dropping to 2.5603%.

The U.S. will release its weekly jobless claims data on Thursday morning.

Oil up more than 1%

Both crude benchmarks rose more than 1% on Thursday morning in Asia.

While WTI rose 1.35% to trade at $102.43 per barrel, Brent crude oil increased by 1.3% to $97.48 per barrel.

The greenback was last traded at 99.521 against a basket of its peers.

Yesterday, the dollar was weaker than today, with the dollar trading at 123.76 per dollar and the dollar at $0.7485.