Asian stock markets witnessed their worst session in two weeks on Friday after a plunge in technology stocks on Wall Street, with gains in safer assets such as bonds and the dollar weak as investors waited for US jobs data.
The broader MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan fell by 1.5% and appears to have ended a six-week winning streak with a weekly loss of 2.3%, the largest since April.
Continuing the theme, Japan's Nikkei is down by 1%. Australia's ASX 200 led the losses with a 3% drop, as global investors sold shares of growth-exposed mining companies such as BHP and traders trimmed their positions ahead of the weekend in case Wall Street falls again.
Declines elsewhere were slightly lighter, with a 1.5% drop for the Hang Seng and a 1.3% drop in South Korea’s Kospi - well ahead of the 5% drop in the Nasdaq.
The focus is now on the US jobs numbers – due at 12:30 GMT - which could be the catalyst to sell if the
