Asian Markets A Sea Of Red

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are a sea of red on Monday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, hurt by tumbling technology stocks which mirrored their peers on tech-heavy Nasdaq amid concerns about valuations. Additional weakness came from escalating Middle East conflict after reports that Iran launched missiles at Israel, raising doubts over the durability of the already fragile US-Iran ceasefire. Asian markets closed mostly lower on Friday.

The Iranian attack followed Israeli strikes in Beirut, with Iran warning of further attacks if Israel expands its military operations in Lebanon or retaliates against Iran's actions.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said the US was close to reaching a final agreement with Iran but cautioned that escalating hostilities could jeopardize ongoing diplomatic efforts. Trump urged Iran to resume talks and reportedly sought to prevent an Israeli retaliation.

The escalation increases the risk of broader military conflict, which could further disrupt Middle Eastern shipping routes and energy flows.

The Australian stock market is closed for King's Birthday on Monday. Australian stocks closed notably lower on Friday.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.705 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is trading sharply lower on Monday, extending the sharp losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday. The Nikkei 225 plunging 3.8 percent to below the 64,050 level, with weakness across all sectors led by exporters, technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 64,040.40, down 2,547.72 points or 3.83 percent, after hitting a low of 63,406.66 earlier. Japanese shares ended sharply lower on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is tumbling more than 7 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is flat. Among automakers, Honda is losing almost 1 percent and Toyota is also declining almost 1 percent.

In the tech space, Advantest is sliding almost 5 percent, Screen Holdings is tumbling almost 7 percent and Tokyo Electron is slipping more than 6 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is slipping more than 2 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is losing almost 2 percent and Mizuho Financial is declining almost 3 percent.

The major exporters are lower. Mitsubishi Electric is slipping almost 7 percent and Panasonic is down more than 5 percent, while Sony is losing more than 1 percent and Canon is edging down 0.5 percent.

Among the other major losers, Renesas Electronics and Sumco are tumbling more than 10 percent each, while Furukawa Electric and TDK are sliding more than 9 percent each. Ebara, Murata Manufacturing, NGK and Mitsui Kinzoku are slipping more than 7 percent each, while Resonac Holdings, Fuji Electric, Minebea Mitsumi and Kioxia Holdings are declining almost 7 percent each.

Conversely, Sumitomo Pharma and Toho are jumping more than 7 percent each, while Shiseido, Nintendo, Kyowa Kirin and Subaru are advancing more than 3 percent each. Tokio Marine Holdings, M3, ZOZO, Pan Pacific International and Ryohin Keikaku are gaining almost 3 percent each.

In economic news, Japan's gross domestic product expanded a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent on quarter in the first quarter of 2026, the Cabinet Office said on Monday - in line with expectations and steady from the previous three months. On an annualized basis, GDP was up 1.8 percent - missing forecasts for 2.1 percent, which would have been unchanged.

Capital spending was down 0.7 percent on quarter, missing expectations for a gain of 0.3 percent, which also would have been unchanged. External demand was unchanged at 0.3 percent, as was private consumption.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 160 yen-range on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea and Taiwan are tumbling 5.3 and 3.8 percent, respectively. Indonesia is down 1.9 percent, while New Zealand, China, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia are lower by between 0.6 and 1.4 percent each.

On Wall Street, stocks showed an even more substantial move to the downside over the course of trading day on Friday after coming under considerable pressure early in the session. The major averages all moved sharply lower, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq posting a particularly steep loss.

The major averages ended the day just off their lows of the session. The Nasdaq plunged 1,121.53 points or 4.2 percent to 25,709.43, the S&P 500 tumbled 200.57 points or 2.6 percent to 7,383.74 and the Dow slumped 695.15 points or 1.4 percent to 50,886.78.

Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day mixed. The German DAX Index slid by 0.8 percent and the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.3 percent, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index bucked the downtrend and inched up by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices slumped on Friday on optimism that the Strait of Hormuz may re-open in the coming days. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was down $2.97 or 2.97 percent at $90.07 per barrel.