Asia stocks retreat amid bond market stress and geopolitical uncertainty

Asia’s equity markets declined on Friday, driven by a broader selloff in long-term bond markets that pushed U.S. Treasury yields to multi-year highs. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 5.185%, while the 30-year yield hit 5.4705%, its highest since 2004, reflecting heightened risk aversion. Japanese 10-year government bond yields also climbed to 3.115%, their highest since 1996, exacerbating pressure on risk assets. Despite Japan’s Nikkei 225 index gaining 1.3%—the only major regional benchmark to advance—broader sentiment was weak, with the broader TOPIX index up 1.2%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell nearly 2%, and its technology-heavy sub-index declined over 2.5%. Australian equities, represented by the S&P/ASX 200, dropped 0.5%, while Singapore’s Straits Times Index edged down 0.2%. India’s Nifty 50 futures remained largely unchanged, reflecting limited trading activity amid regional market closures for holidays in Mainland China, South Korea, and Taiwan.