HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stocks tumbled Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei slumping 2.4% on heavy selling of semiconductor-related shares and other market heavyweights. Tensions in the Middle East were weighing on sentiment across the region, and U.S. futures were sharply lower. Oil prices jumped as the state-run IRNA news agency reported that Iran fired air defense batteries early Friday morning after reports of explosions near the city of Isfahan. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 2.4% to 37,156.54, paring losses in the early trading when it plunged 3.5%. Semiconductor equipment supplier Lasertec was the largest loser, which lost 8.4%. But most other big tech-related shares also dropped. Renesas gave up 6%, Tokyo Electron lost 8.7% and Sony Group Corp. declined 1.8%. Toyota Motor Corp was down 2.2%. Japan’s headline inflation rate slowed to 2.7% in March, the government reported, while the core-core index, excluding fresh food and energy costs, moderated to 2.9%, marking the first time since November 2022 that it fell below 3%. |
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