Asian stocks fall as tech slump on Wall Street drags sentiment
Asian markets fell on Friday, following overnight losses on Wall Street, where a renewed sell-off in technology stocks weighed heavily on global risk appetite.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 dropped 1.6% to 50,064.38, having fallen more than 2% earlier in the session, as investors took profits after a volatile week for tech shares.
Weak trade data from China added to the cautious mood. The country’s exports fell 1.1% in October, with shipments to the United States down 25% year-on-year. However, economists said exports could rebound in the coming months after U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed last week to de-escalate trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
Elsewhere, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slid 0.9% to 26,247.36, while the Shanghai Composite was broadly flat at 4,007.45. South Korea’s Kospi tumbled 2.2% to 3,937.22, and Taiwan’s Taiex fell 0.7%. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.8% to 8,761.10.
The weakness followed another decline on Wall Street, where major benchmarks fell for a second straight session. The S&P 500 closed down 1.1% at 6,720.32, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8% to 46,912.30, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.9% to 23,053.99, led by declines in AI and semiconductor stocks.
In bond markets, the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury slipped to 4.093%, from 4.151% late Wednesday, as investors moved into safer assets amid renewed market volatility.
