Asian markets sink, with Japan's Nikkei down 3.5%, as Mideast tensions flare

HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stocks tumbled Friday, with Japan's Nikkei slumping 3.5% on heavy selling of semiconductor-related shares and other market heavyweights.

Tensions in the Middle East were weighing on sentiment across the region, and U.S. futures were sharply lower.

Oil prices jumped about $3 as the staterun IRNA news agency reported that Iran fired air defense batteries early Friday morning after reports of explosions near the city of Isfahan.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 plunged 3.51% to 36,742.05.

Semiconductor equipment supplier Lasertec was the largest loser, it lost 9.7% in morning trading. But most other big techrelated shares also dropped. Renesas gave up 7.3%, Tokyo Electron lost 7.8% and Sony Group Corp. declined 3.3%. Toyota Motor Corp was down 3.7%.

Japan's headline inflation rate in March slowed to 2.7%, while the core-core index, excluding fresh food and energy costs, moderated to 2.9%, marking the first time since November 2022 that the index fell below 3%.

The yen was slightly firmer against the U.S. dollar, with the latter falling to 153.80 Japanese yen from 154.64 yen.

Markets are waiting for the Japanese central bank's next move after it raised its benchmark interest rate last month for the first time in 17 years, ending a longstanding policy of negative rates meant to boost the economy. But the rate remains near zero.

Elsewhere, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dipped 1.7% to 7,512.70. South Korea's Kospi dropped 2.9% to 2,558.56. Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 1.4% to 16,161.24, while the Shanghai Composite edged down 0.1% to 3,071.76.

Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell 0.2% to 5,011.12 after flipping between small gains and losses through the day. The drop was slight, but it was still enough to send the index to a fifth straight loss. That's its longest losing streak since October, and it's sitting 4.6% below its record set late last month.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.1% to 37,775.38, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.5% to 15,601.50.

Equifax dropped 8.5% for one of the market's bigger losses after it reported weaker revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. High interest rates are pressuring its mortgage credit inquiry business.

The only stock to fall more in the S&P 500 was Las Vegas Sands, which sank 8.7% even though it reported better results than expected.

Analysts said investors may be worried about competition the casino and resort company is facing in Macau, a southern China enclave that is one of the world's biggest gambling havens.

Helping to offset those losses was Elevance Health, which climbed 3.2% after raising its profit forecast for the full year. Genuine Parts jumped 11.2% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after the distributor of automotive and industrial replacement parts reported stronger profit than analysts expected. It also raised its range for forecasted profits over the full year.