Reuters - Asia's stock markets had their worst session in two weeks Friday following selling in technology-company shares overnight on Wall Street but gains in safer assets like bonds and dollars were muted as market participants awaited U.S. job data to see if it triggers even more selling.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.6 percent and looked set for a 2.4 percent weekly loss - its biggest since April. Japan's Nikkei dropped 1 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.8 percent and Australia's ASX 200 2.8 percent.
These losses were shallower than the 5 percent fall on the technology centered Nasdaq overnight or the S&P 500's 3.5 percent drop. Those were the steepest Wall Street losses since June - but traders said selling was overdue given recent gains.
"It was steady rather than panic selling throughout," said ING's regional head of research Rob Carnell. "It just doesn't sound or feel like anything other than a bit of profit taking...if this was a massive risk-off move you'd have expected the dollar to rally - and it didn't really."
U.S. payrolls figures out at 1230 GMT showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell below 1 million last week for the second time since the COVID-19 pandemic started in the U.S. but that doesn't signal a strong recovery in the labor market.
Futures traded under pressure but backed off early-session lows in Asia. Nasdaq 100 futures were last down 1.3 percent, S&P 500 futures were down 0.3 percent. Dow futures were flat.
The dollar was steady, but a drop in the euro over the past few days on talk that the European Central Bank was concerned about its strength had the U.S. unit looking for its best week in more than two months.
The euro seems to have arrested its slide for now and sat at $1.1852. The Antipodeans were under gentle pressure while the yen was steady at 106.16 per dollar.
Bonds shaved a little off what was a pretty modest rise overnight thanks to the selling in the equities markets. Benchmark U.S. 10-year bond yields rose 1.5 basis points Friday after having fallen about 3 basis points overnight.
Thursday's U.S. selling was the biggest one-day percentage drop on the Nasdaq since March and the darling stocks of recent months were hit hardest.
Shares in Apple fell 8 percent, Tesla paper was down 9 percent and Microsoft stocks were off 6 percent. Still, the selling wound the Nasdaq back as far as to where it was Tuesday a week ago. It is still up 28 percent for the year so far and 73 percent higher than its March low.
"No single factor sparked the sell-off," said Kerry Craig, Global Market Strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, blaming more general worries the rally had run too far, too fast. "However, this is unlikely to be a repeat of the tech wreck of the late 1990s given how much the market and sector have changed," he said.
Technology company share selling in Asia was limited. In South Korea Samsung shares fell 1.6 percent and there was modest pressure on the shares of Apple suppliers in Shanghai and Taipei. But falls in the share prices of consumer staples and financials companies led losses on the Hong Kong and China bourses.
Australia's consumer lender Afterpay, which seems to track the tech sector, saw a 5 percent fall in its share price and is set for its worst weekly percentage drop since March.
In commodity markets the stronger dollar has kept pressure on prices. Oil was headed for a weekly loss because of worries about demand as the U.S. summer driving season draws to a close. Brent crude futures fell 1 percent to $43.64 a barrel and U.S. crude also fell 1 percent to 40.93 a barrel.
Gold drifted lower as equities were sold overnight but was last up 0.2 percent for the day at $1,934 an ounce.
