South Korea CPI, Nikkei hit by sell-off

Japan’s benchmark stock index plunged 5% on Friday and Asia-Pacific shares were mostly lower as recession fears led to an overnight sell-off on Wall Street.

The Nikkei extended its 2.62% loss on Thursday, leading losses among regional stocks and falling to its lowest level since February.

Both the Nikkei and Topix subsequently pared losses and were last trading at 4.29% and 4.36%, respectively.

Some of the heavyweight stocks that posted losses included SoftBank Group Down more than 5%. Trading company Mitsui and Marubeni Shares of semiconductor company Tokyo Electron fell more than 9%.

Japanese government bond yields fall, benchmark yield 10-year Japanese government bond It fell below the 1% mark, hitting its lowest level since June 20.

South Korea Kospi The index fell 2.71%, while the small-cap Kosdaq fell 2.86%.

However, K-pop stocks were a bright spot. Shares of four listed K-pop companies all rose on Friday, defying the broader market sell-off, led by Hybee after the company Announcing new business strategy after the market closes on Thursday.

Australia S&P/ASX 200 It fell 2.02%, falling from its all-time high set on Thursday.

Hongkong Hang Seng Index The Shanghai-Shenzhen 300 Index fell 0.74%.

Respectively, South Korea’s July inflation data The country’s consumer price index rose 2.6% from a year earlier, slightly higher than the 2.5% expected by economists polled by Reuters.

The mood in Asia was subdued following a sell-off on Wall Street during Thursday’s trading session, with the three major U.S. stock indexes tumbling on fears of a recession.

this Dow Jones Industrial Average It fell by 1.21%, while S&P 500 Down 1.37%, technology stocks performed strongly Nasdaq Composite Index Down 2.3%.

this Russell 2000 IndexThe small-cap benchmark index, which had recently rallied, fell 3%.

In the United States, new economic data raised concerns about a possible recession and worries that it might be too late for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.

The number of first-time applications for unemployment benefits recorded the largest increase since August 2023. The ISM manufacturing index, which measures U.S. factory activity, was 46.8%, lower than expected, indicating an economic contraction.

In response to these data, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield fell below 4% for the first time since February.

—CNBC’s Pia Singh and Samantha Subin contributed to this report.