Asian markets fall following Wall Street selloff

Asian equity markets mostly traded lower on Friday, following the previous session's decline on Wall Street. Mettis Global reported that Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 0.92 per cent while the Topix eased 0.40 per cent. South Korea's Kospi lost 1.07 per cent and the small-cap Kosdaq fell 2.44 per cent, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.21 per cent.

The regional weakness followed a notable retreat in US equities, where the S&P 500 fell 0.9 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite lost 1 per cent. Both benchmarks were on course for weekly losses, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.8 per cent for the week. US equity futures were little changed early Friday, with S&P 500 contracts flat and Nasdaq-100 contracts edging higher.

Sentiment was weighed down by a rebound in long-dated Treasury yields, which revived worries about inflation and the expanding volume of government debt being issued. Concerns also lingered that official efforts to ease bond-market pressure would not tackle the underlying worries. Tensions with Tehran also weighed on markets after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pledged to step up economic pressure on Iran. Separately, Ross Stores shares climbed more than 7 per cent in after-hours dealings after second-quarter results came in ahead of expectations.