Asian Shares Retreat On U.S. Economic Concerns

Asian stocks declined on Friday as U.S. job data signaled weakness in the country’s labor market and customs data showed Chinese exports unexpectedly fell in October after months of frontloading U.S. orders to beat President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Traders also weighed cautious comments from Federal Reserve officials expressing hesitation about continuing with further interest rate cuts.

China’s Shanghai Composite Index ended down 0.3 percent at 3,997.56 amid mixed catalysts.

Media reports suggested that the U.S. is pushing forward on Trump’s pledge to pause a series of penalties aimed at China’s shipbuilding industry.

Separate reports said the White House has informed other federal agencies that it will not permit Nvidia to sell its latest scaled-down AI chips to China.

Markets showed little reaction to official data that showed Chinese exports contracted in October, hit by a 25 percent drop in shipments to the United States.

Data showed exports fell 1.1 percent year-on-year last month, marking the first drop in shipments since February following an 8.3 percent increase in September. Imports rose 1 percent last month from the year before, compared with 7.4 percent growth in September.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.9 percent to 26,241.83 on concerns about stretched tech valuations.

Japanese markets retreated as heavyweight tech stocks tracked an overnight decline on Wall Street. The Nikkei 225 Index slumped 1.2 percent to 50,276.37, taking its weekly loss to 4.1 percent – the biggest weekly drop since April. The broader Topix Index settled 0.4 percent lower at 3,298.85.

Tech stocks like SoftBank and Advantest lost 6-7 percent, while Recruit Holdings soared 16.1 percent and Nissan Motor surged 4.3 percent after reporting their financial results.

Seoul stocks moved sharply lower, with the Kospi tumbling 1.8 percent to 3,953.76 on valuation worries. Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Hyundai Motor dropped 1-2 percent.

Australian markets ended at a six-week low, with financials and miners leading losses. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index slid 0.7 percent to 8,769.70, while the broader All Ordinaries Index ended down 0.7 percent at 9,031.70.

Macquarie Group shares plummeted 5.7 percent after the investment bank reported half-year earnings that came in below estimates.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NX-50 Index edged up by 0.2 percent to 13,599.21 after closing lower in the previous session.

Gold climbed above $4,000 per ounce in Asian trading, as the dollar weakened after the release of weak U.S. labor market data. Oil prices were up nearly 1 percent as sanctions by the U.S. and Europe continue to tighten supply.

U.S. stocks tumbled overnight as weak private sector jobs data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas added to concerns about an AI bubble and the possibility of a near-term correction.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slumped 1.9 percent to hit a two-week low, while the S&P 500 shed 1.1 percent and the Dow gave up 0.8 percent.

The survey from the global outplacement firm showed that last month was the worst October for U.S. layoffs since 2003 as companies cut jobs and imposed hiring freezes.

It was said that employers announced 153,074 job cuts in October, up 183 percent from the 54,064 job cuts announced in September and up 175 percent from the 55,597 cuts announced in the same month a year ago.

U.S. firms terminated 1.09 million roles during the first 10 months of this year, up 44 percent from the 761,358 cuts in 2024 and marking the highest level of year-to-date job cuts since 2020.

Separate data from Revelio Labs indicated that U.S. non-farm payrolls decreased by 9,100 in October compared to an increase of 33,000 in the previous month.

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