Asia-Pacific markets fell Thursday, tracking declines on Wall Street as investor sentiment soured on fears that a new U.S. budget bill could substantially add to the country’s debt.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225
fell 0.84% to close at 36,985.87, while the Topix lost 0.58% to end the day at 2,717.09. South Korea’s Kospi slipped 1.22% to 2,593.67 and the small-cap Kosdaq declined 0.82% to close at 717.67.

Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.45% to end the trading day at 8,348.7.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slipped 1.19% to close at 23,544.31, while mainland China’s CSI 300 fell 0.06% to close at 3,913.87.
Stock futures were flat in overnight trading Wednesday following a sizable sell-off on Wall Street as worries about a ballooning deficit deepened.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average
dipped 60 points. S&P 500 futures
and Nasdaq 100 futures
were both little changed.

Overnight stateside, the three major averages closed lower. Stocks sold off, pressured by a sharp spike higher in Treasury yields as traders grew worried that a new U.S. budget bill would put even more stress on the country’s already large deficit.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 816.80 points, or 1.91% to 41,860.44. The S&P 500 shed 1.61% to 5,844.61. The Nasdaq Composite slid 1.41% to 18,872.64.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield last traded around 5.09%, touching the highest level going back to October 2023. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield traded at 4.59%.