Asian Shares Retreat After Wall Street Selloff

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks declined on Friday after Wall Street's main indexes fell sharply overnight on fears of more interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve.

U.S. private-sector payrolls expanded by 497000 in June, according to the payroll-services firm ADP on Thursday - coming in well ahead of the downwardly revised 267,000 gain in May and the 220,000 consensus estimate.

The U.S. services sector also grew faster than expected in June, raising fears of more interest rate hikes ahead by the Federal Reserve to keep inflation under control.

The dollar held steady in Asian trade and Treasury yields hovered near their recent peaks while gold headed for a fourth weekly loss.

Oil prices rose about 1 percent and were on track for their second straight weekly gain amid signs of supply tightness.

Chinese shares ended slightly lower to extend losses for a third day running amid a lack of clarity on Beijing's stimulus measures to prop up growth. The benchmark Shanghai Composite slipped 0.28 percent to 3,196.61. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 0.90 percent to 18,365.70.

Japanese shares tumbled after government data showed household spending in the country fell 4.0 percent in May from a year earlier, marking a third month of decline.

The Nikkei average dropped 1.17 percent to 32,388.42, extending losses for a fourth consecutive session on Fed tightening concerns.

The broader Topix index settled 0.97 percent lower at 2,254.90 with appliance makers Sharp Corp and Panasonic ending down around 3 percent each.

Drug maker Eisai slumped 4.7 percent despite winning a coveted standard approval nod from the U.S. FDA for its Leqembi Alzheimer's treatment.

Seoul stocks lost ground as chipmakers came under selling pressure on U.S. rate hike woes. The Kospi average closed 1.16 percent lower at 2,526.71.

Samsung Electronics shed 2.4 percent after the world's largest memory chip and smartphone maker reported a likely 96 percent plunge in second-quarter operating profit. No. 2 chipmaker SK Hynix gave up 1.8 percent.

Australian markets fell the most in two weeks, with heavyweight mining and financial stocks bearing the brunt of the selling. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1.69 percent to 7,042.30 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended down 1.64 percent at 7,244.10.

BHP gave up 1.8 percent and Rio Tinto shed 0.7 percent, tracking a fall in iron ore prices fell after China's top steel-producing city of Tangshan ordered an output cut for July. The big four banks fell between 1.1 percent and 1.7 percent.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index edged up 0.17 percent to 11,980.12 ahead of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's monetary policy review due next week.

U.S. stocks fell notably overnight as upbeat private payrolls and service sector data added to concerns about the outlook for interest rates following Wednesday's hawkish Federal Reserve minutes.

The Dow lost 1.1 percent to log its biggest single day fall since May 2, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite both shed around 0.8 percent.