Asia markets extend declines as U.S. jobs data triggers sell-off on Wall Street

Tokyo-listed shares of Eisai fell sharply in Friday's morning as investors assessed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval of a drug for Alzheimer's treatment, Leqembi.

The drug is produced by Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai and its U.S. partner Biogen.

Leqembi is the first Alzheimer's antibody treatment to receive full FDA approval. It is also the first such drug that to receive broad coverage through Medicare.

— Jihye Lee, Spencer Kimball

Major indexes in the Asia-Pacific tracked Wall Street's losses and fell for a second consecutive day as rate hike fears drove investor sentiment.

Japan's Nikkei 225 marked its fourth straight of declines and traded 0.46% lower, having lost 2.7% for the week.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 saw a third day of declines and fell 1.48% on Friday afternoon. The index shed nearly 2% this week.

South Korea's Kospi fell 2.14% this week so far and last traded 1.32% lower.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 3.32% in the past five days of trade and fell 1% on Friday.

Singapore's Straits Times Index also shed more than 2% in the week so far.

— Jihye Lee

Japan's nominal average wages climbed 2.5% year-on-year in the month of May, higher than the revised 0.8% rise seen in the previous month and marking the third consecutive month of acceleration in hikes.

Government data showed Japan's total average monthly earnings across all industries rose while all household spending fell 4% year-on-year, marking the third straight month of contraction.

A Reuters poll of economists expected to see a smaller decline in household spending of 2.4%.

Declines were led by a drop in transportation and communication, furniture and household goods, as well as medical care and apparel.

— Jihye Lee

SK Kim of Daiwa Capital Markets expects Samsung's memory chip production cut to take place in the third quarter, leading to an uplift in prices.

Nandalal Weerasinghe, governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, explained that consumer confidence is coming back and the currency is appreciating. He also discussed the implementation of new reforms.

Zoom is "doubling down" on its technical investments in the Asia-Pacific region as it seeks to strengthen growth, said the video communications company on Friday. 

"Whether it's here in Singapore, where we have a full data center … [or] in India, an effort forward with a R&D center in both Chennai and Bangalore," Abe Smith, Zoom's head of international, told "Squawk Box Asia."

He added that Zoom is "extremely optimistic" about the growth of its phone product in Asia Pacific.

That's in spite of headwinds the company has been facing in the post-pandemic era as more people return to the office and business trips resume. Shares of Zoom fell about 45% in the past year.

In February this year, the company also announced plans to cut 15% of its workforce, citing the "uncertainty of the global economy" as well as "its effect on our customers" as reasons.

— Goh Chiew Tong

Goldman Sachs analysts have given their verdict on the double or triple-digit rallies in the shares of A.I.-focused stocks.

In addition to naming the stocks exposed to the theme, the Wall Street bank's analysts also said investors were focused on the new technology over its potential to lift personal and professional productivity worldwide.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

While the market might be uncertain, Morgan Stanley believes there are still opportunities for investors in China.

The bank pointed to initiatives within companies that could lead to "alpha generating opportunities" and give them a competitive advantage.

Here are six of their picks, five of which are also listed in the U.S.

— Weizhen Tan

Shares of Samsung Electronics fell 1.7% in its first hour of trade after the company's estimates showed a likely steep drop in its operating profit amid an ongoing chip glut.

Samsung estimated that its operating profit fell to about 600 billion won ($458.4 million) in the second quarter.

That marks a 95.7% plunge compared with the company's 14.1 trillion won in operating profit a year ago.

The company's estimates also showed its second-quarter revenue likely fell 22% year-on-year to 60 trillion won.

The company in April said it would make "meaningful" cuts to chip production in the face of a global slowdown in demand for semiconductors that has pushed prices down further.

— Jihye Lee

Private payrolls exploded in June, with job growth totaling 497,000 on the month, according to a report from payrolls processing firm ADP.

The total was more than double the 220,000 Dow Jones estimate and was boosted by growth of 232,000 in the pivotal leisure and hospitality sector. Construction added 97,000 while trade, transportation and utilities grew by 90,000.

The monthly total also was the highest since July 2022. May's total was revised lower to 267,000, down 11,000 from the initial estimate.

—Jeff Cox

The Dow and S&P 500 are both on track to post their worst daily performances in more than a month with just hours left in Thursday's session.

The Dow's 1.3% drop places it on track for its biggest lost in a session since March 22, when the blue-chip average finished 1.6% lower.

With a slide of 1%, the S&P 500 is poised to post its worst day since May 23, when it dropped 1.1%.

— Alex Harring

Job openings fell more than expected in May, providing some hope that the labor market is loosening up, according to a Labor Department report Thursday.

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed that listings totaled 9.82 million, down from an upwardly revised 10.32 million the month before and below the FactSet estimate of 9.9 million.

Quits rose on the month, pushing just above 4 million as the rate compared to the workforce size increased to 2.6%, up 0.2 percentage point from April.

A separate economic report released at 10 a.m. ET showed that the ISM Services index for June registered a 53.9 reading, up from 50.3 in May and better than the 51.3 estimate.

—Jeff Cox