Asia report: Tokyo leads declines as JGB yields jump
By Josh White
Date: Tuesday 18 Nov 2025
(Sharecast News) - Asia-Pacific equities fell sharply on Tuesday as regional markets tracked a tech-led decline on Wall Street and investors grew cautious ahead of Nvidia's earnings and key US economic data.
Losses in Japan and South Korea led the region lower after another retreat in artificial-intelligence-linked stocks in New York.
Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management said Asia entered the session "trading in the shadow of Tokyo's sudden altitude loss," noting that "Japan's market didn't wobble - it opened a trapdoor," a move that "left a scar across regional risk sentiment that every trader in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Sydney could feel vibrating through their screens."
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.18%, the S&P 500 fell 0.92% and the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.84%.
Nvidia slipped nearly 2% ahead of Wednesday's third-quarter results, while broader AI sentiment weakened as concerns over stretched valuations mounted.
Blue Owl Capital shed almost 6% on worries about its exposure to lending for AI data centres.
Tokyo leads the losses as JGB yields surge
Japan's market saw one of its steepest pullbacks in months, with the Nikkei 225 plunging 3.22% to 48,702.98.
Technology and industrial names led the selloff, including Fujikura, down 9.9%, Furukawa Electric, off 9.49%, and Sumitomo Electric Industries, down 9.06%.
The Topix fell 2.88% to 3,251.10.
Innes said the selloff reflected "the kind of macro air pocket you only get when too many fault lines shift at the same time."
The sharp move in Japanese government bonds added pressure, with yields on 20-year JGBs rising almost 4 basis points to 2.78%, their highest level since July 1999, while 10-year yields climbed around 2 basis points to 1.751%.
He noted that "the JGB curve was the opening shockwave," adding that long-end moves "forced global allocators to reassess duration risk before they had even finished their morning coffee."
A weaker yen offered little support for exporters, with Innes observing that "a yen pushing into the 155s against the dollar ... wasn't seen as a profit tailwind - it was read as a policy failure in slow motion."
China's mainland markets also weakened, with the Shanghai Composite down 0.81% at 3,939.81 and the Shenzhen Component losing 0.92% to 13,080.49.
Losses widened among mid-cap names, including Hainan Mining, Fujian Cement and Fujian Dongbai Group, each down 10%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.72% to 25,930.03, weighed by declines in China Hongqiao Group, which dropped 5.88%, Zhongsheng Group Holdings, down 5.19%, and Zijin Mining Group, off 4.36%.
Innes said the regional pressure reflected rapid contagion from Tokyo's turbulence, noting that "the contagion spread quickly across the region" and that "local tech tracked the Nasdaq washout."
South Korea's Kospi slumped 3.32% to 3,953.62, with several constituents experiencing sharp losses.
Samsung Publis tumbled 22.07%, Koas fell 14.26% and Isu Chemical dropped 10.68%, underscoring the pressure across technology-linked names.
Innes highlighted that Nvidia's upcoming results had become "the central gravitational force shaping risk appetite everywhere from Seoul to Taipei," reflecting the reliance of regional sentiment on the AI cycle.
Down under markets in the red as investors digest RBA minutes
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 weakened 1.94% to 8,469.10 as technology and financial stocks declined.
Technology One sank 17.2%, while IperionX fell 9.38% and Pinnacle Investment Management Group lost 6.57%.
The pullback came as minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia's November meeting signalled increasing caution over the outlook for interest rate cuts.
Policymakers noted sticky inflation, robust labour market data and risks that stronger demand could reignite price pressures.
The RBA held rates at 3.60% this month, and analysts reduced expectations for a December cut, with ANZ now forecasting one final reduction in the first half of 2026.
Innes added that the broader region was "trading blind into a US data deluge," with delayed US releases intensifying uncertainty and pushing November's volatility regime "into higher gear."
Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 declined 1.16% to 13,342.82, with Tourism Holdings down 3.6%, Ryman Healthcare off 3.16% and Investore Property falling 2.87%.
Dollar rises on the yen, slips against the antipodes
In currency markets, the dollar strengthened slightly against the yen, rising 0.1% to trade at JPY 155.41, while it slipped 0.09% against the Aussie to AUD 1.5386 and fell 0.14% on the Kiwi to NZD 1.7650.
Innes said the yen's depreciation was amplifying the sense that markets were "already running the tape forward to the intervention chapter."
Oil prices were largely steady, with Brent crude futures easing 0.02% on ICE to $64.19 per barrel, and the NYMEX quote for West Texas Intermediate edging up 0.05% to $59.94.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
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