Asian Stocks Retreat as Investors Brace for Nvidia Earnings and Rising Bond Yields

Asian stock markets slipped on Tuesday as investors reacted to overnight losses on Wall Street and grew cautious ahead of key earnings from artificial intelligence giant Nvidia. Tech shares led the regional downturn, while Japan’s markets saw the steepest declines amid mounting fiscal concerns.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell around 2%, and the TOPIX dropped 1.5%, marking their lowest levels in nearly two weeks. The sell-off intensified as long-dated Japanese government bond yields surged to multi-decade highs, signaling growing unease over how Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will finance her expansive fiscal agenda. Japan’s 30-year bond yield jumped 1.8% toward record levels, while the 20-year yield climbed 1.4% to a fresh high. Investors also anticipate Takaichi’s first major spending package, which may be announced this week. A sharp economic contraction in the third quarter added pressure for more government stimulus, including potential tax cuts to boost household spending.

Across Asia, technology-heavy markets posted notable losses before Nvidia’s highly anticipated quarterly results. South Korea’s KOSPI slid 1.8%, weighed down by declines in Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1%, with Xiaomi tumbling more than 3% ahead of its own earnings release. Japanese tech investor SoftBank Group sank nearly 6% as fears of stretched AI-driven valuations intensified. Nvidia, now the world’s most valuable public company, has seen several major hedge funds trim positions amid talk of an overheating tech market.

Weakness extended beyond tech sectors. China’s CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite traded mostly flat, while Australia’s ASX 200 slid 1.6% after the Reserve Bank of Australia signaled caution on further rate cuts. Singapore’s Straits Times Index eased 0.2%, and futures for India’s Nifty 50 pointed to a softer open. Meanwhile, S&P 500 futures rose 0.2% during Asian trading but did little to sway regional sentiment as investors awaited U.S. nonfarm payroll data due Thursday.