ASIA MARKET CLOSE | Nikkei Sinks 2.85% and KOSPI Drops 4% as Bond Yields, US-Iran Clash Rattle Asia; Hong Kong Holds 25,000

According to Kyodo News, The Korea Herald and Hong Kong Economic Times, Asian equities broadly retreated Wednesday as rising government bond yields and renewed US-Iran hostilities drove crude prices higher and revived inflation and rate-hike worries. Tokyo's Nikkei Stock Average ended down 1,889.70 points, or 2.85%, at 64,325.64, falling for a third straight session after briefly dropping more than 3%; the broader Topix lost 100.26 points, or 2.40%, to 4,081.60. The 10-year Japanese government bond yield touched 3.015%, its highest since September 1996, as speculation grew over a September Bank of Japan rate hike. Chip-related names fell, with Tokyo Electron down 3.40% and Advantest off 2.52%. Seoul's KOSPI tumbled 273.08 points, or 3.99%, to 6,562.72, ending a two-session winning streak. Foreign and institutional investors sold a net 1.9 trillion won and 2 trillion won of shares, respectively. Samsung Electronics fell 4.02% to 250,500 won and SK hynix dropped 4.73% to 1.61 million won, while Hyundai Motor sank 5.62% and LG Energy Solution lost 5.31%. Daishin Securities analyst Lee Kyung-min said sentiment was weighed by rising oil prices and sovereign debt yields in major economies. Hong Kong stocks pared early losses to close little changed, with the Hang Seng Index down 18 points, or 0.07%, at 25,311, holding the 25,000 level after touching an intraday low of 25,008; turnover reached HK$216.69 billion and the Hang Seng Tech Index fell 0.7% to 4,517. HSBC rose more than 1% and Meituan gained over 2%, while CATL fell 4% and Zhipu dropped about 5%. Chinese brokerage shares slid, with CICC down more than 7%. Taiwan's TAIEX fell 784 points, or 1.67%, to close at 46,164.72, breaking its five-day line, with turnover of NT$918.39 billion. TSMC dropped 2.25% to NT$2,385 and MediaTek fell about 1% to NT$4,275, while Delta Electronics slumped more than 7%; AI server and optical-communication names such as Wiwynn and Sinbon bucked the trend. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite closed down 0.97%, the Shenzhen Component fell 1.88% and the ChiNext Index dropped 2.39%, with more than 3,900 stocks declining. Combined turnover was 1.79 trillion yuan. Defense stocks were active while seed and lithium-battery shares weakened.