Asian stocks sink as global banking woes trigger market volatility

Asian stocks are moody on Friday, dragged lower by fears surrounding U.S. regional banks and the growing uncertainty spreading across global markets from Europe to America, according to data from CNBC.

The wave of selling that began on the Wall Street trading floor Thursday continued without pause. Dow Jones futures slipped by 1%, while S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures tumbled by 1.3% and 1.5% respectively, showing investors had no appetite for risk anywhere.

The one brief spark came from South Korea, where the Kospi touched a record intraday high of 3,794.87 before sliding back to close slightly higher at 3,748.89, logging its third straight record day.

Trade talks between Seoul and Washington gave some early optimism, but that faded fast. The Kosdaq, home to smaller tech firms, ended down by 0.68% at 859.54.

Hong Kong leads Asia’s fall as Europe and America sink under bank stress

The biggest losses came from Hong Kong, where the Hang Seng Index dropped 2.48% to 25,247.1, its sharpest fall since April, mostly hit by education stocks.

On the mainland, the CSI 300 plunged by 2.26% to close at 4,514.23, its biggest single-day decline in a year. Over in Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.44% to 47,582.15, and the broader Topix slipped by 1.03% to 3,170.44. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.81% to 8,995.3, ending a three-day winning streak.

In Europe, losses deepened early Friday. The Pan-European Stoxx 600 was down by 1.7% by 9:30 a.m. in London, with all major indexes in the red. The FTSE 100 fell 1.6%, France’s CAC 40 slid 0.9%, and Germany’s DAX with Italy’s FTSE MIB both dropped over 2%.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Banks Index was down 2.8% as panic from the U.S. banking sector spread overseas. Two regional U.S. lenders, Zions Bancorp and Western Alliance, disclosed fraud-linked write-downs that erased more than $100 billion in market value in a single session.

At the same time, the collapses of First Brands Group and Tricolor Holdings reignited concerns about hidden credit losses buried in loan books.

The yen suddenly strengthened, moving past the 150 per dollar level before retreating slightly to 150.10 by early afternoon in Tokyo. It briefly touched 149.90, its strongest mark since October 6. The Swiss franc also gained ground, while the U.S. dollar weakened.

Bond yields are crashing too though, as the five-year U.S. Treasury yield fell three basis points to 3.51%, its lowest since October last year, while the two-year yield plunged to its weakest level since 2022 and the 10-year slid under 4%.

The Dollar Spot Index extended its losing streak to 0.7%, its worst stretch since June. Traders raised their bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts, now expecting 53 basis points of easing before year-end, compared to 46 just two days earlier.

Meanwhile Bitcoin, which hit an all-time high of $126,251 just ten days ago, has been hammered since the cascade of liquidations triggered by worsening U.S.-China trade tensions wiped out gains across crypto.

In the week to October 12, Bitcoin dropped 6.3%, its biggest weekly loss since March, and has failed to recover. Bitcoin now sits between key technical levels, trading below its 200-day moving average (200DMA) at $107.4k but above the 365DMA at $99.9k. Overhead, the 111DMA sits at $114.7k. Glassnode believes that holding above the 365DMA could steady the market, but breaking lower could open the door to a far deeper correction.

Gold, however, continues its monster rally, having just surpassed $4,380 for the first time ever, as Cryptopolitan reported.

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