Asia report: Stocks fall on back of Wall Street sell-off

Asia-Pacific stocks ended lower on Friday following a sell-off in the US triggered by stronger-than-expected jobs data overnight.

“Asian equity markets lower as global markets experienced selling pressure driven by declines on Wall Street,” said TickMill Group market analyst Patrick Munnelly.

“The Nikkei 225 opened with a slump following disappointing household spending data, although it later recovered some of its losses.

“The Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite were also in negative territory due to growth concerns and ongoing trade frictions with the US.”

Stocks fall across region after Wall Street sell-off

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 closed 1.17% lower at 32,388.42, while the broader Topix index dipped 0.97% to 2,254.90.

Shares of pharmaceutical company Eisai led the drop, losing 4.67%, followed by Tokyo Electric Power Co and Mitsui Fudosan, which saw their shares fall by 3.23% and 2.82%, respectively.

China's market also ended the day in the red with the Shanghai Composite down by 0.28% at 3,196.61, and the Shenzhen Component declining 0.73% to 10,888.56.

Among the hardest hit in Shanghai were Guangdong Marubi and Beijing Tricolor, losing 5.19% and 4.79% respectively.

The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong dropped 0.9% to 18,365.70, with shares of ENN Energy and Xinyi Solar slumping by 7.68% and 6.8% respectively.

Athletic apparel manufacturer Li Ning Co also fell by 4.29%.

South Korea's Kospi was also affected by the negative sentiment, closing 1.16% lower at 2,526.71, as Hanmi Pharm Co and Samsung Biologics saw their shares drop 5.41% and 4.01% respectively.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell significantly by 1.69% to 7,042.30, with Block Inc and Capricorn Metals among the biggest losers, each sliding by 5.48% and 5.19% respectively.

In contrast to the overall trend, New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 index rose slightly by 0.17% to 11,980.12, with shares of Pacific Edge and Mainfreight gaining 7.5% and 2.51% respectively.

On the currency front, the yen was last 0.62% stronger on the dollar at JPY 143.17, while the Aussie and the Kiwi were also ahead on the greenback, by 0.3% at AUD 1.5047 and 0.38% at NZD 1.6180, respectively.

Oil prices nudged up as well, with Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate futures both rising 0.31%, to $76.76 per barrel on ICE and $72.02 on NYMEX, respectively.

Japan's wage growth accelerates as household spending contracts

On the economic front, Japan saw an uptick in nominal average wages in May, climbing 2.5% year-on-year, outperforming the revised 0.8% increase recorded in the prior month.

It marked the third successive month of accelerating wage hikes, according to government data.

The overall average monthly earnings across all sectors improved, but household spending experienced a downward turn.

Falling by 4% year-on-year, household spending was in contraction territory for the third consecutive month.

Economists surveyed by Reuters had expected a smaller contraction in household spending of 2.4%.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.