HONG KONG (Nikkei Markets) -- Asian stocks outside of Japan extended loss on Thursday, as concerns over trade relations between the world's largest economies and rising U.S. bond yields weighed on sentiment.
The Nikkei Asia300 Index dropped 0.5% to 1,404.93. Mainland financials listed in Hong Kong contributed heavily to Thursday's drop, with China Construction Bank (CCB) and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) shedding 1.7% and 1.9%, respectively. Insurers AIA Group and Ping An Insurance Group lost 1.3% and 0.4%. Samsung Electronics, one of the heaviest weighted stocks on the gauge, shed 0.9% in Seoul.