Asian Stocks Slide as Nikkei Leads Losses on Tech Selloff and Rising U.S.-Iran Tensions

Asian stock markets ended mostly lower on Friday, led by a sharp decline in Japans Nikkei 225 as technology and semiconductor stocks extended a global selloff. Investor sentiment also remained under pressure amid...

Asian stock markets ended mostly lower on Friday, led by a sharp decline in Japan's Nikkei 225 as technology and semiconductor stocks extended a global selloff. Investor sentiment also remained under pressure amid escalating U.S.-Iran tensions, which continued to drive oil prices higher and raised concerns over inflation and interest rates. The weak regional performance followed overnight losses on Wall Street, where major technology and chipmaking stocks weighed heavily on broader indexes.

S&P 500 Futures also declined 0.5% during Asian trading, signaling continued caution among investors. Hawkish remarks from Federal Reserve officials further dampened sentiment by reinforcing expectations that U.S. interest rates could stay elevated for longer. Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 4%, making it the region's weakest-performing major index, while the broader TOPIX lost 2.6%.

Semiconductor-related companies led the decline, with Murata Manufacturing and Kioxia Holdings among the biggest losers. Despite reporting stronger-than-expected earnings and maintaining a positive outlook driven by artificial intelligence demand, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) fell 5% after raising its capital expenditure forecast, sparking concerns over rising AI investment costs. The technology selloff spread across Asia.

China's Shanghai Composite fell 1.6%, the CSI 300 declined 2.5%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slipped 2%. Australia's ASX 200 and Singapore's Straits Times Index each lost around 0.5%. Singapore's latest economic data also weighed on sentiment after non-oil domestic exports expanded less than expected in June.

South Korean markets remained closed for a public holiday, while India's Nifty 50 outperformed regional peers with a 0.6% gain in early trading. Geopolitical risks also kept investors on edge. The United States carried out a sixth consecutive night of military strikes on Iran, raising fears of supply disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate futures were on track for weekly gains exceeding 10%, their strongest advances since April. Higher oil prices have intensified concerns that renewed energy inflation could complicate the global monetary policy outlook. Although recent U.S. inflation data support expectations that the Federal Reserve will leave interest rates unchanged in the near term, investors continued rotating out of high-valued AI and semiconductor stocks into more defensive sectors despite maintaining a positive long-term outlook for artificial intelligence spending.