The uncertainty caused by the U.S. tariff policy has put pressure on the Asian markets.
On Friday, the yield on Japan's long-term government bonds soared, with the 20-year Japanese government bond yield climbing to 2.25% and the 30-year Japanese government bond yield rising to 2.556%, both reaching their highest levels since the 2008 financial crisis. The benchmark 10-year government bond yield also rose to its highest point since 2009, currently retreating to 1.499%.
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Analysts attribute this to the pressure from a global bond sell-off, and the surge in Japanese bond yields reflects the market's increasing expectations for inflation and tightening monetary policy in Japan.
Overnight, all three major U.S. stock indices fell sharply, with the Nasdaq Composite Index entering a correction zone. Although the performance of U.S. chipmaker Broadcom boosted U.S. stock index futures, it failed to reverse the overall market sentiment.
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Affected by the volatility in the Japanese bond market and the overnight decline in U.S. stocks, the Asia-Pacific stock markets generally fell on Friday. The Nikkei 225 index led the decline, dropping by 1.8%, with real estate stocks being the main drag on the Japanese stock market. Nintendo and Sony fell by approximately 6% and 5.18%, respectively, becoming the worst-performing stocks in the Nikkei index.
Other Asia-Pacific markets also performed poorly:
<ul>
<li>The Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell by 0.4%, while the small-cap Kosdaq rose slightly by 0.2%;</li>
<li>The Australian S&amp;P/ASX 200 index dropped by 1.4%;</li>
<li>The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index futures reported 24,085 points, weakening compared to the previous day's close.</li>
</ul>
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<h2>Uncertainty Continues to Disturb the Market</h2>
The tariff policy of the Trump administration continues to bring uncertainty to the market. Traders pointed out that the White House has failed to provide clear information regarding the long-term tariff issues facing Canada and Mexico, exacerbating market concerns. Although Trump postponed the deadline for imposing tariffs on certain goods from the two countries, the market did not rise as a result. Comments from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent further suggested that tariff increases may be unavoidable.
Data released by Challenger, Gray &amp; Christmas on Thursday showed that U.S. layoff announcements surged to their highest level since 2020, partly attributed to efforts by Trump and Elon Musk to reduce the number of federal government employees.
The market is closely watching the U.S. non-farm payroll data set to be released on Friday to gauge future interest rate trends. Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller stated:
<blockquote>
He will not support a rate cut in March, but believes there is still room for two or even three rate cuts this year.
</blockquote>
Citi researchers believe that once weak growth data materializes, the market may expect the Federal Reserve to implement more rate cuts this year, and Citi still maintains a baseline scenario of a 125 basis point rate cut

The Japanese stock market led the decline in the Asia-Pacific stock markets, with the Nikkei 225 index falling by 1.8%. At the same time, the yield on 20-year Japanese government bonds rose to 2.25%, and the yield on 30-year Japanese government bonds increased to 2.556%, both reaching their highest levels since the 2008 financial crisis

- Uncertainty from U.S. tariff policies is pressuring Asian markets, with Japan's long-term government bond yields reaching their highest levels since the 2008 financial crisis.  
- The surge in Japanese bond yields reflects rising market expectations for inflation and tighter monetary policy, while U.S. stock indices fell sharply, influenced by the volatility in Japan's bond market.  
- The market is closely watching upcoming U.S. non-farm payroll data to gauge future interest rate trends, with expectations of potential rate cuts later this year.

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Asian stock markets fell sharply, and Japanese bond yields hit a new high since the financial crisis