BANGKOK (AP) โ Stocks plunged Thursday in Asia following a pullback on Wall Street after big U.S. companies posted mixed earnings reports and Treasury yields added pressure on stocks.
Concerns about war in the Middle East are also dragging down markets.
Benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul fell about 2%.
Japan reported that its exports entered positive territory in September as vehicle shipments increased.
Exports rose 4.3% while imports plunged 16.3% in September and the trade balance reached a surplus of 62.4 trillion yen ($410 billion). Exports to the United States increased by 13%, while those to the rest of Asia decreased by 4.3%.
Imports fell as the price of oil moderated for a short time before rising again with the start of fighting following the Oct. 7 surprise attack by the Hamas militant group on Israel.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index lost 1.9% to 31,430.62. Seoul's Kospi lost 1.9% to 2,415.80 as the Bank of Korea left its key interest rate unchanged.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 2.2% at 17,349.79 and the Shanghai Composite Index was down 1.6% at 3,010.03. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 sank 1.4% to 6,981.60.
India's Sensex fell 0.2% and the Bangkok SET fell 0.9%.
"Another rise in Treasury yields, lingering geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and higher oil prices appear to dampen risk-taking appetite for now," IG's Yeap Jun Rong said in a report.
A major threat to the global economy is what oil prices will do to inflation. Crude oil prices rose sharply on Wednesday following a deadly explosion at a hospital in the Gaza Strip, which sparked protests across the Middle East.
Early Thursday, U.S. benchmark crude oil was down 11 cents at $87.16 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Wednesday it had risen $1.83 to $87.27 per barrel.
Brent crude, the international pricing standard, fell 28 cents to $91.22 a barrel. It rose $1.60 on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 sank 1.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1%. The Nasdaq sank 1.6%.
Tesla's stock price fell 4.2% in after-hours trading after it reported its net income plunged in the third quarter as price reductions helped fuel strong sales growth, but they reduced the automaker's profit margins.
Netflix shares rose 12.8% in after-hours trading after it revealed summer subscriber gains that topped analysts' projections, indicating the video streaming service's crackdown on password sharing is turning freeloaders into paying customers.
United Airlines fell 9.7% after saying rising fuel prices and suspending flights to Tel Aviv will hurt its business. Other airlines fell in tandem, with American Airlines falling 4.9% and Delta Air Lines falling 4.4%.
Morgan Stanley fell 6.8% as investors focused on weaker-than-expected performance in the company's wealth management business, analysts said.
On the winning side was Procter & Gamble, the giant behind brands like Charmin, Febreze and Oral-B. It rose 2.6% after reporting stronger-than-expected profits for the latest quarter as its revenue rose after it raised prices.
The summer earnings reporting season is just beginning, and the general expectation is that overall earnings per share for S&P 500 companies rose in the latest quarter for the first time in a year.
The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.97% early Thursday after topping 4.90% on Wednesday for the first time since 2007, just before the global financial crisis. It was at 4.84% Tuesday night and in the spring it was at less than 3.50%.
The sharp jump in yields followed a Treasury Department report showing that Chinese investors sold the most U.S. bonds and stocks in four years in August.
Yields have risen as the U.S. economy has remained remarkably resilient, even after the Federal Reserve raised its main interest rate to the highest level since 2001. High rates and yields hurt prices for stocks and other investments. .
In other trading early Thursday, the dollar fell to 149.80 Japanese yen from 149.93 yen. The euro rose to $1.0539 from $1.0536.
Gold lost $10.30 to $1,958.00 an ounce early Thursday. It rose $32.60 to settle at $1,968.30 an ounce a day earlier as investors sought safer investments.
