Stocks dive on surging inflation, Ukraine risks; China markets sell-off

Asian shares extended a global slump on Friday after the fastest U.S. inflation in four decades

Asian shares extended a global slump on Friday after the fastest U.S. inflation in four decades and a hawkish European Central Bank (ECB) bolstered expectations for more aggressive rate hikes, hammering sentiment already stung by the Ukraine war.

Qazet.az reports that sellers swarmed Chinese equity markets after U.S.-listed Chinese stocks tumbled following the naming of the first Chinese firms to be potentially de-listed in the United States.

Risk appetite suffered more broadly as investors braced for faster tightening of monetary conditions after data on Thursday showed a 7.9% annualised jump in U.S. consumer inflation in February, the largest increase in 40 years.

In morning trade in Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) skidded 1.7%, as a retreat on Wall Street spilled over on many of the region's country benchmarks, which turned deeply red.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index (.HIS) slumped 3.5%, with the shares of Yum China (9987.HK), and four other firms taking a beating after the companies were embroiled in an auditing dispute between Beijing and Washington.