Asian stocks fell for the fifth day, tracking the impact of the decline in US stocks, as concerns about US domestic banks outweighed the impact of better-than-expected earnings from technology companies.
Stocks fell in Japan, Australia and South Korea, while stocks in China and Hong Kong fluctuated. The moves indicate the direction of the region's stock index to achieve the longest period of daily losses this year.
S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures rose in Asia after Meta Platform results beat analysts' estimates, sending their shares up 11% in after-hours trading.
US futures gains follow gains on the Nasdaq 100 on Wednesday, supported by upbeat earnings from Alphabet Inc. and Microsoft Corp. that were announced late the previous day.
In Asia, a record quarterly loss in Samsung's chip division weighed on its shares. Nomura Holding shares also fell after the Japanese bank announced a decline in profits.
The yen remained in a tight range as the Bank of Japan kicked off its two-day monetary policy meeting, the first for new governor Kazuo Ueda. The weakness of the dollar against most of its peers in the Group of Ten.
Treasuries rose in Asia as investors waited for US GDP data to gauge the strength of the US economy.
bank problems
First Republic Bank shares fell an additional 30% on Wednesday after losing nearly half of their value the previous day. The US domestic lender faces potential limits on borrowing from the Federal Reserve.
Krishna Guha, Head of Central Bank Strategy at Evercore ISA, wrote in a report that the prospect of tightening credit conditions linked to the banking turmoil may prompt the Fed to adjust the pace of interest rate increases.
He said, We cannot rule out the possibility that developments around the First Republic will unfold in such a way that the FOMC will skip (raising rates) in May, while raising it in June.
US jobless claims and GDP data due on Thursday will help determine the health of the US economy ahead of the Fed's preferred inflation indicator, the personal consumption expenditures price index, due for release on Friday.
Elsewhere in the markets, Oil rallied slightly after Wednesday's slide, Gold steadied, and Bitcoin rallied.
