Asia stocks set for weekly drop as tech rout resumes; China trade data underwhelms

Updates at 03:56 GMT with latest price moves, India open

Investing.com-- Asian stock markets tumbled on Friday, heading for steep weekly losses, as a global tech sell-off deepened amid valuation concerns, while renewed U.S.-China tensions further rattled investors.

Technology shares in Japan and South Korea led the declines, while investor focus for the day was on Chinese trade figures for October.

Wall Street saw heavy losses overnight, extending Tuesday’s risk-off mood, while futures tied to them were largely unchanged as of 03:56 GMT.

Japan, S.Korea lead declines; set for sharp weekly losses

Japan’s Nikkei 225 plunged 2.3% on Friday, on track to lose nearly 5% this week, dragged lower by declines in technology-related stocks.

SoftBank Group (TYO:9984) shares slumped 9% on Friday, while chipmaker Advantest Corp (TYO:6857) retreated over 7%.

South Korea’s KOSPI tumbled nearly 3%, heading for an over 4% weekly decline. Chipmaking giants Samsung Electronics (KS:005930) and SK Hynix (KS:000660) extended losses.

The moves come amid concerns that lofty valuations in the semiconductor and AI sectors may be unsustainable.

Investor caution was compounded by recent warnings from U.S. bank and investment executives, who flagged the risk of a correction in equities, stoking fears of a market bubble.

Elsewhere, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index edged 0.6% lower, set to fall more than 1% for the week.

India’s Nifty 50 dropped more than 1% at market open, while Singapore’s Straits Times Index was largely unchanged.

China trade data disappoints; US-China tech export curbs in focus

Data on Friday showed that Chinese exports fell unexpectedly in October after a sharp rise in the previous month, missing forecasts of a modest rise.

Imports also weakened, leading to a decline in the country’s trade balance, suggesting persistent trade pressures and weak domestic demand.

Meanwhile, tensions between Washington and Beijing further unsettled markets. A report from The Information on Thursday stated that the U.S. plans to block Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) from selling scaled-down AI chips to China, a move that could limit Chinese firms’ access to advanced technology.

This follows a Reuters report saying that Beijing intends to ban the use of foreign-made AI chips in state-funded data centres, a measure seen as part of China’s push to support domestic chip production.

Despite last week’s meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, recent export-control announcements have underscored that frictions in the tech sector remain unresolved.

China’s blue chip Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and the Shanghai Composite edged 0.2% lower each.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 1.2%, with Hang Seng TECH sub-index declining over 2%.