Asia markets mostly fall, tracking Wall Street losses on tech rout
Most markets in Asia were in negative territory, with Australia leading losses.
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Restored Cheonggyecheon at night, Seoul.
Renan Gicquel | Moment Open | Getty Images
Asia markets mostly saw a weak session Friday, after a tech-led rout on Wall Street.
South Korea's Kospi plunged as much as 5% at one point, but the index pared losses and was last down 1.44% to 5,089.14; the small-cap Kosdaq was down 2.49% and closed at 1,080.77.
Index heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix fell 0.44% and 0.36%, respectively, while Hyundai Motor was 4.3% lower.
Defense heavyweight Hanwha Aerospace was 3.75% down, while LG Energy Solution lost 2.53%.
South Korea's market, which is heavily weighted in favor of companies in the chip and automotive industries, have seen sharp swings in the past week as sentiment over tech stocks sours.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 led losses in the region, falling 2.03% and ending at 8,708.8, its lowest level in almost a month.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 1.1% in its final hour of trade, while mainland China's CSI 300 retreated 0.57% to end at 4,643.6.
ln contrast, Japan's Nikkei 225 reversed losses to gain 0.81% and finish at 54,253.68, while the broad-based Topix was up 1.28% to reach a new record high of 3,699.
Shares of Japanese auto giant Toyota climbed 2% after the company released its third-quarter results, and announced that CEO Koji Sato was stepping down. Sato will be replaced by current Chief Financial Officer Kenta Kon.
Japanese pharmaceutical makers slumped on Friday, after U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled his website offering discounted prescription medicines. Sumitomo Pharma dropped almost 4%, while Takeda Pharmaceutical, Japan's largest drugmaker, fell 1.34%.
On the commodities front, spot silver prices climbed 0.5%, having crashed about 13% on Thursday.
Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 1.20%, while the S&P 500 lost 1.23%, pushing it into negative territory for the year. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite posted the biggest decline, dropping 1.59%.
—CNBC's Sean Conlon and Sarah Min contributed to this report.
