Asian stock markets retreated Friday as traders weighed geopolitical concerns, inflation, labor issues, and booked profits in regional equity indices that recently struck record highs
Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tokyo finished in the red, while Seoul's KOSPI index declined 6%, including an 8.6% tumble in bellwether Samsung Electronics shares after reports of a possible work stoppage at the semiconductor giant.
The Samsung Electronics labor union plans an 18-day strike, involving 50,000 employees, from May 21 to June 7, reported The Chosun Daily news organization.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened evenly on Wall Street cues but declined in trading, finishing off 2% after Tokyo reported that producer prices had jumped higher in April.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 eased 1,244.76 to 61,409.29, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 120 to 99.
Leading the upside was industrial engineering and metal melting enterprise Dowa, up 16.1%, while printing outfit Toppan declined 16.6%.
In economic news, Japan's producer price index rose 4.9% year-on-year in April, rising from the 2.9% gain logged in March and triggering concerns that the Bank of Japan will soon raise interest rates.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened lower and declined steadily, closing down 1.6% after the recent Beijing-Washington summit concluded without any major trade agreements announced. Tech issues led the decline.
The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 426.31 to 25,962.73, as losing issues outnumbered losers 76 to 13. The Hang Seng TECH Index lost 2.7% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index fell 1.2%.
Leading the upside was Wuxi Biologics, gaining 3.2%, while JD Health International declined 6.6%.
On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 1% to 4,135.39.
On the other regional exchanges, the Taiwan TWSE declined 1.4%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 0.1%; the Singapore Straits Times Index fell 0.1%, and the Thai Set declined 1.4%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was down 0.2%
The MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index fell 2.1% on the day.