Follow-Up: Asian Shares Fall Again on Friday: CSI 300 Hits Lowest Since July 2025, Nikkei Down 5% for the Week as Brent Touches $114
SYDNEY — Asian shares fell on Friday, October 23, as concerns over the enormous funding needs of SI hammered tech stocks and led to the biggest daily rally in U.S. Treasuries in more than three years, with investors fleeing to sovereign bonds and safe-haven currencies. Markets also sharply pared back expectations of further policy tightening from the Federal Reserve, stripping out almost a full quarter-point rate hike for next year amid concerns a bursting SI bubble could derail the data-centre investment boom and hobble the U.S. economy. A December rate rise is no longer fully priced, with the implied probability falling to 85%.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares excluding Japan fell 0.3% on Friday, bringing its weekly loss to 2.7% and marking a fourth straight week in the red. Japan's Nikkei dropped 1.3% and was down about 5% for the week. South Korea's KOSPI skidded 1.7%, on course for a 4.3% weekly decline, with memory chipmaker SK Hynix down 2.5% on the day. Taiwan's stock market was closed due to a typhoon. An index of mainland Chinese blue chips, the CSI 300, lost 1.1% on Friday to hit its lowest level since July 2025; the index was down about 20% from its peak in late June. Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged up 0.1% after dropping 3% on Thursday.
The sell-off followed Thursday's session on Wall Street, where the Nasdaq slumped more than 2%. Meta shares lost nearly 8% after the Facebook parent posted its first cash outflow in more than a decade due to its SI-related expenditures, and announced plans to issue non-voting shares in a two-for-one split to raise capital to spend on the technology. Tesla shares fell 3.1% as the electric car maker cut its 2026 capital spending plans. "The question is whether selling accelerates or markets stage another familiar reversal," said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone. "There's nothing more emotive than a falling market where buyers refuse to engage. Sellers don't need a fresh catalyst when deteriorating price action itself encourages more selling." Charlie McElligott, managing director for cross-asset strategy at Nomura Securities International, wrote in a note: "AI is under the cosh. US Treasury bonds are — gasp — working as your hedge again, as the market seems to be real-time repricing the probabilities of a US growth scare off the back of the AI reset."
As equities tumbled, money flowed into safe-haven U.S. Treasuries. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield slid more than 19 basis points overnight, the biggest drop since March 2023, before steadying at 4.9591% on Friday, back below the closely watched 5% level. The 2-year Treasury yield slumped nearly 19 basis points and was last at 4.6566%. French bonds continued to sell off, with the benchmark French yield climbing 6 basis points overnight to 5.0601%, the highest level since 2002. Government bonds in Asia also rallied: the yield on 10-year Japanese government bonds fell 9 basis points to 2.790%, while Australia's 10-year yield dropped 10 basis points to 5.164%. "The US 10yr yield gapped back below 5% with some conviction. We're not convinced it keeps on going," said Padhraic Garvey, ING's regional head of research for the Americas.
Oil prices stayed elevated despite the risk-off mood, with Brent hitting a five-month peak at $114 a barrel on Friday as Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia stoked concerns of further disruption to energy supplies and fears grew that the conflict in the Middle East could escalate sharply. In currency markets, the dollar fell 0.2% to 156.44 yen on Friday, after slumping 0.9% overnight, and slipped 0.1% to 0.8196 Swiss francs, the lowest in a month. Gold failed to catch safe-haven demand and was flat at $4,021.99 an ounce on Friday after a nearly 3% drop overnight. (GSM, from Reuters' global markets wrap, October 23)
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 东京八重洲的电子股价牌（资料图）。照片：nappa，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Electronic stock board in Yaesu, Tokyo (file photo). Photo: nappa, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
- 2026-10-22Follow-Up: Asian Stocks Slide as Nikkei Falls 2%, Kospi Drops Over 4% and Alibaba Tumbles 6.5% in Hong Kong
- 2026-10-23Follow-Up: Asian Shares Fall Again on Friday: CSI 300 Hits Lowest Since July 2025, Nikkei Down 5% for the Week as Brent Touches $114This story
