Asian Shares Decline As Investors Await Fed Chair's Speech

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks fell on Friday, with profit booking in tech stocks and hawkish signals from some Federal Reserve officials weighing on regional markets.

Investors also awaited more clarity on monetary policy from the Jackson Hole Symposium, where Fed Chair Jerome Powell is set to speak later in the day.

He is expected to outline whether interest rates should continue to rise to combat high inflation.

Treasury yields were unchanged, and gold ticked lower on dollar strength while oil prices climbed but were on track for a second weekly decline on fuel demand concerns. Chinese share ended lower despite policymakers urging top financial institutions to help stabilize a struggling market. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index settled 0.59 percent lower at 3,064.07.

Hong Kong Hang Seng index fell 1.40 percent to 17,956.38, dragged down by technology stocks. Baidu, Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings all fell around 2 percent.

Chinese food delivery giant Meituan slumped 5.6 percent after its CEO Wang Xing warned of a slowdown in food delivery volume in the third quarter.

Japanese stocks tumbled on concerns over worsening trade ties with China after Japan began releasing contaminated water from the Fukushima plant into the Pacific Ocean.

The Nikkei average fell 2.05 percent to 31,624.28 while the broader Topix index closed down 0.88 percent at 2,266.40.

Advantest led losses to close 10 percent lower, Tokyo Electron gave up 5.9 percent and Screen Holdings shed 3.4 percent.

Data showed earlier in the day that consumer inflation in Tokyo grew at a slower-than-expected pace in August but still remained well above the Bank of Japan's target range.

Seoul stocks fell notably as investors booked profits in tech stocks in the aftermath of the Nvidia's stellar results. Samsung Electronics dropped 1.6 percent and SK Hynix tumbled 3.6 percent. The Kospi average ended 0.73 percent lower at 2,519.14.

Australian markets ended lower, with mining and technology stocks pacing the declines ahead of Powell's speech at Jackson Hole, Wyoming later in the day.

The benchmark S&P ASX 200 slipped 0.93 percent to 7,115.20 while the broader All Ordinaries index dropped 0.92 percent to 7,332.60.

Conglomerate Wesfarmers climbed 3.2 percent after annual profit topped forecasts. Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P NZX-50 index slid 0.30 percent to 11,467.66.

U.S. stocks ended sharply lower overnight, failing to sustain early gains after Nvidia beat earnings views and raised its guidance.

A tech rally proved to be short-lived as U.S. bond yields resumed their climb in the wake of mixed comments from Fed officials.

While Boston Fed President Susan Collins warned of further rate increases, Philly Fed President Patrick Harker said the Fed has probably done enough to curb inflation.

Former St. Louis Fed President James Bullard believes that a reacceleration in growth this summer could delay plans for the Fed to end its interest-rate increases.

On the data front, durable goods orders for July missed expectations while the latest jobless claims figures showed continued labor market resilience.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plummeted 1.9 percent, the S&P 500 tumbled 1.4 percent and the Dow lost 1.1 percent.