Activity on Elizabeth Street (at the intersection of Bourke St Mall), Melbourne on a cloudy day.
Charlie Rogers | Moment | Getty Images
Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 1% in early trade, while the broad-based Topix fell 0.83%.
South Korea’s Kospi dipped 0.47%, but the small-cap Kosdaq bucked the trend and climbed 0.15%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 started the day down 0.6%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index futures were at 25,862, lower than the HSI’s last close of 25,888.51.
Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports posted a sharp rebound in September, jumping 6.9% from a year earlier, defying expectations of a 2.1% drop and reversing an 11.3% fall in August.
U.S. stock futures were slightly lower on Thursday night stateside after the previous session saw a sell-off fueled by concerns about regional banks’ loan practices.
Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 301.07 points, or nearly 0.7%, to close at 45,952.24. Earlier in the day, the 30-stock index had gained 170 points.
The S&P 500 finished 0.6% lower at 6,629.07, giving up a 0.6% gain at the highs of the session. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.5% to settle at 22,562.54.
— CNBC’s Liz Napolitano, Pia Singh and Alex Harring contributed to this report.