The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.3% in early trade. Japan’s Nikkei 225 led regional declines, sliding 1.07%, while the Topix shed 0.53%.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.56% and Hang Seng futures pointed to a 0.9% drop.
The Japanese yen held steady at 153.57 per dollar after gaining 0.3% a day earlier, while the offshore yuan stayed largely flat at 6.7056 per dollar.
In India, the GIFT Nifty was over 103 points down indicating that the Nifty could open in red.
The regional weakness followed a sharper retreat on Wall Street. The S&P 500 fell 0.5%, with industrial and consumer-discretionary stocks bearing the brunt of the selling. The Nasdaq 100 lost 0.3% as heavyweight technology names, including Nvidia, Amazon and Alphabet, all declined.
Also Read: Dow Jones falls 1,300 points in three sessions as bond markets, oil prices add to pressure
Rising bond yields compounded the pressure on equities. The 10-year Treasury yield held steady in Asian hours after climbing on Wednesday, when the US government unveiled plans to purchase up to $6 billion of longer-dated debt which was an amount smaller than some investors had anticipated, a Bloomberg report said. That disappointment weighed further on sentiment already strained by inflation concerns.
Oil prices provided the biggest jolt as Brent crude advanced 0.5% to touch $101.69, extending gains up to $102 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate climbed 1% to $97.05 a barrel, while escalating tensions in West Asia drove the rally, as traders seemed to groUSw increasingly worried about potential disruptions to energy supplies.The higher crude prices added to expectations that the Federal Reserve would need to raise interest rates further to keep inflation in check.
US President Donald Trump played down worries over rising oil prices, saying the conflict would end after the midterm election, even though hostilities showed no signs of abating.
A senior Iranian official warned that Tehran would intensify its counterstrikes if the United States continued attacking Iranian territory and infrastructure according to a Bloomberg report.
Markets would now focus on Friday’s US inflation data. Traders will parse the report closely to gauge whether the US Fed raises rates at its September meeting.
With Bloomberg Inputs
