Asian markets slide as Wall Street tech losses weigh

Asian equity markets fell on Friday after a mixed Wall Street session. A bullish outlook for memory-chip makers lifted some semiconductor names, while losses in megacap technology stocks weighed on the broader market. U.S. stock futures also pointed lower, signaling the weakness could extend.

The overnight session saw the Nasdaq Composite close in the red. Shares of memory-chip producers such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix rose on strong demand expectations tied to AI infrastructure spending. The divergence within the tech sector is the main story: high-valuation names like Apple and Microsoft fell, pressured by rising bond yields and profit-taking, while memory-chip stocks benefited from upbeat capital spending plans by cloud providers.

In Asia, tech-heavy indices led the declines. Japan's Nikkei dropped, dragged down by semiconductor equipment makers. South Korea's KOSPI slipped even as Samsung and SK Hynix gained. Hong Kong's Hang Seng also traded lower, with Tencent and Alibaba losing ground.

The next scheduled catalyst for global markets is the U.S. personal consumption expenditures price index, due at 8:30 a.m. ET Friday. The data will influence expectations for the Federal Reserve's rate path.