Asian stocks were heavy on Friday,...........>

STOCKS: Asian stocks were heavy on Friday, following the lead from Wall St. as

worries over Trump's tariffs/retaliation from China & fear over the health of

the tech sector spread.

- The Nikkei 225 was last 3.8% lower, as a stronger JPY added to the pressure.

The IT sector and materials led the way lower, with the materials sector not too

far behind. The export sensitive electronics & auto names tumbled.

- The Hang Seng Seng shed 2.8%, while the mainland CSI 300 was 3.2% worse off. A

large sale of Tencent shares from Naspers added further weight to the Hang Seng

as tariff sensitive names predictably plummeted.

- Australia's ASX 200 lost circa 2.1% with materials leading the way as copper &

iron ore both moved lower. Financials also fell afoul of the lower yield

environment.

- US index futures continued to feel the heat after the closing bell on

Thursday, with the e-mini S&P 15 points worse off & mini-Dow futures 170 points

lower.