Japan's 30-year bond yield hits highest level since 2008; Nikkei leads Asia losses

Expectations of early rate hikes by the Bank of Japan, as well as increased defense spending, may be fueling the rise in long-term Japanese government bond yields.

This is according to Hirofumi Suzuki, chief FX strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.

In comments to CNBC on Thursday, Suzuki explained that JGB yields were rising not only due to uncertainty around tariffs, but also due to the expectation of early rate hikes by the Bank of Japan, as well as the rise in German bond yields and increased German defense spending.

"There is also speculation that Japan's increasing defense spending in the future could contribute to a rise in long-term interest rates," Suzuki said.

— Lim Hui Jie

The Japanese yen's rise to a five-month high earlier this week prompted Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato to say that appropriate action would be taken against excessive moves in the foreign exchange market, according to Reuters.

"We've been seeing one-sided, rapid movements since December," Kato said at a press conference on Friday.

"We've been alarmed by foreign exchange moves including those driven by speculators. As we've been saying, we'll take appropriate action against excessive moves," he added.

The Japanese yen on Friday traded 0.28% lower at 147.53 against the U.S. dollar.

— Amala Balakrishner, Reuters

China's exports growth slowed more than expected at the start of the year, data from the customs authority showed Friday, as higher U.S. tariffs partly offset momentum in the country's rare bright spot.

Exports in the January to February period rose 2.3% in U.S. dollar terms from a year earlier, significantly undershooting expectations of a 5% increase in a Reuters poll.

That compares with growth of 10.7% in December, 6.7% in November, 12.7% in October, following a soft rise of 2.4% in September.

Read the full story, here.

— Anniek Bao

Chinese e-commerce company JD.com saw Hong Kong shares slip about 5% on Friday despite posting a rise in revenue for its fourth quarter.

This was in contrast to the 0.34% rise in the company's U.S. listed ADRs. JD.com said on Thursday that revenues were up 13.4% year-on-year in the fourth quarter to $47.5 billion.

"In Q4, the number of third-party active users and third-party order volumes continue to accelerate, both outpacing the overall JD retail segment growth," said CEO Sandy Xu during the earnings call.

Despite the fall on Friday, the major Chinese online shopping company's stock is up 26.1% year-to-date in Hong Kong, according to LSEG data.

Chinese retail sales have remained under the pressure of deflation and low consumption. China this week announced it was doubling subsidies for its consumer trade-in program, which Beijing expanded this year to include some smartphones as well as home appliances.

The company recorded a 15.8% year-on-year growth for electronics and home appliances category, JD's greatest source of revenue.

— Bernice Ooi

Defense stocks in Japan and South Korea are proving to be a bright spot in Friday's downturn, as U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly renewed his threat against NATO.

"If they don't pay, I'm not going to defend them. No, I'm not going to defend them," Trump told reporters.

South Korea's Hanwha Aerospace, Korea Aerospace Industries, Poongsan and Hyundai Rotem are all in positive territory.

Japanese defense heavyweights Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Hosoya Pyro-Engineering and Kawasaki Heavy Industries also climbed on Friday.

Trump also spoke about the U.S.- Japan alliance in his comments, while South Korean arms makers have benefited from increased European defense spending.

— Lim Hui Jie

Yields on long-term Japan government bonds rose to their highest level since 2008, with yields on the 20-year and 30-year JGB hitting levels not seen since 2008.

The 20-year JGB yield climbed to a high of 2.25% on Friday, an increase of just over 5 basis points, while the 30- year JGB yield rose to a high of 2.556%, an increase of 6.6 basis points.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year JGB also rose to 1.538%, its highest level since 2009.

The moves extend gains from the previous session, with analysts attributing Japan's surging yields to pressure from a global sell-off in bonds.

— Lim Hui Jie

Japan's Nikkei 225 led losses in Asia on Monday amid a wider downturn, with real estate stocks dragging the index.

However, the largest loser on the index was video games company Nintendo, which fell about 6%.

Electronics giant Sony was also among the Nikkei's top losers, slipping 5.18%.

— Lim Hui Jie

Certuity chief investment officer Scott Welch said Thursday that investors would be better off taking a break from following the constantly evolving ins-and-outs of the trade war.

"That's what the market's paying attention to right now. In my opinion, everybody should just take their dog for a walk and relax," Welch said.

Globalt Investments senior portfolio manager Thomas Martin similarly is sticking to a patience approach.

"There's just things that are changing so much. If you don't like how things are now, just wait a minute, right? It's like the weather in the mountains. So we're not trying to trade every little thing that's going on," Martin said.

— Jesse Pound

JPMorgan doesn't expect a big move higher in crypto in the near future.

Cryptocurrencies including bitcoin rallied to start the week following a social media update by President Trump on the widely expected bitcoin stockpile, which has become a "strategic crypto reserve."

Those gains quickly reversed as part of a broader sell-off on tariff concerns, but there is also lingering skepticism about the crypto reserve now that the market has had some time to digest it.

"Overall we believe that crypto markets are likely to remain under pressure over the near term," JPMorgan's Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou said in a note Wednesday.

For more, read our full story here.

— Tanaya Macheel

The S&P 500 has recorded a string of recent volatility that has not been seen in nearly half a decade, according to Bespoke Investment Group.

The broad index is on track to notch its sixth straight session with a move either up or down of at least 1%. A streak of that length has not been seen since November 2020, Bespoke data shows.

— Alex Harring