Stock market today: Japan’s Nikkei leads Asian market retreat as Middle East tensions flare

HONG KONG -- Asian stocks tumbled Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei slumping 2.4% connected dense selling of semiconductor-related shares and different marketplace heavyweights.

Tensions successful the Middle East were weighing connected sentiment crossed the region, and U.S. futures were sharply lower.

Oil prices jumped arsenic the state-run IRNA quality bureau reported that Iran fired aerial defence batteries aboriginal Friday greeting aft reports of explosions adjacent the metropolis of Isfahan.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 mislaid 2.4% to 37,156.54, paring losses successful the aboriginal trading erstwhile it plunged 3.5%.

Semiconductor instrumentality supplier Lasertec was the largest loser, which mislaid 8.4%. But astir different large tech-related shares besides dropped. Renesas gave up 6%, Tokyo Electron mislaid 8.7% and Sony Group Corp. declined 1.8%.

Toyota Motor Corp was down 2.2%.

Japan's header ostentation complaint slowed to 2.7% successful March, the authorities reported, portion the core-core index, excluding caller food and vigor costs, moderated to 2.9%, marking the archetypal clip since November 2022 that it fell beneath 3%.

The yen was somewhat firmer against the U.S. dollar, with the second falling to 154.38 Japanese yen from 154.64 yen.

Markets are waiting for the Japanese cardinal bank’s adjacent determination aft it raised its benchmark involvement complaint past period for the archetypal clip successful 17 years, ending a longstanding argumentation of antagonistic rates meant to boost the economy. But the complaint remains adjacent zero.

Elsewhere, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 1.1% to 7,561.60. South Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.7% to 2,589.65. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 1.4% to 16,149.44, portion the Shanghai Composite was 0.5% little to 3,059.30. Taiwan’s Taiex slumped 3.8%, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co shares tumbling 6.7%.

Overnight connected Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell 0.2% to 5,011.12 aft flipping betwixt tiny gains and losses done the day. The driblet was slight, but it was inactive capable to nonstop the scale to a 5th consecutive loss. That’s its longest losing streak since October, and it’s sitting 4.6% beneath its grounds acceptable precocious past month.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.1% to 37,775.38, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.5% to 15,601.50.

Equifax dropped 8.5% for 1 of the market's bigger losses aft it reported weaker gross for the latest 4th than analysts expected. High involvement rates are pressuring its owe recognition enquiry business.

The lone banal to autumn much successful the S&P 500 was Las Vegas Sands, which sank 8.7% adjacent though it reported amended results than expected. Analysts said investors whitethorn beryllium disquieted astir contention the casino and edifice institution is facing successful Macau, a confederate China enclave that is 1 of the world's biggest gambling havens.

Helping to offset those losses was Elevance Health, which climbed 3.2% aft raising its nett forecast for the afloat year. Genuine Parts jumped 11.2% for the biggest summation successful the S&P 500 aft the distributor of automotive and concern replacement parts reported stronger nett than analysts expected. It besides raised its scope for forecasted profits implicit the afloat year.

Stocks person been struggling precocious arsenic yields successful the enslaved marketplace complaint higher. They’re cranking up the unit due to the fact that investors person mostly fixed up connected hopes that the Federal Reserve volition present galore cuts to involvement rates this year.

Yields climbed a spot higher aft much reports connected Thursday showed the U.S. system remains stronger than expected.

One study said less workers applied for unemployment benefits past week than economists expected. It’s the latest motion that the occupation marketplace remains coagulated contempt precocious involvement rates.

Another study connected Thursday said maturation successful manufacturing successful the mid-Atlantic portion accelerated sharply, erstwhile economists were expecting a contraction.

A 3rd study said income of antecedently occupied U.S. homes didn't autumn by rather arsenic overmuch past period arsenic economists expected.

Similar data, on with a drawstring of reports showing ostentation has remained hotter than forecast this year, person pushed apical Fed officials to accidental precocious they could clasp involvement rates precocious for a while.

That's a letdown aft the Fed earlier had signaled 3 cuts to involvement rates could beryllium imaginable this year. But Fed officials person been adamant they privation to beryllium definite ostentation is heading down toward their 2% people earlier lowering the Fed’s main involvement complaint from its highest level since 2001.

In lipid trading, U.S. benchmark crude roseate $1.16 to $83.89 per tube successful physics trading connected the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the planetary standard, gained $1.21 to $88.32 per barrel.

The euro dropped to $1.0635 from $1.0644.