The drop today sees the Nikkei hover around its 100-day moving average

Nikkei 30-10

The late slump also brings into focus the 2 October low, and those will be key technical levels for the Nikkei ahead of trading next week. The drop today is largely due to the souring mood in US futures over the past hour. During the week, the Nikkei fell by 2.2%.

Elsewhere, the Hang Seng is seen down by 2.0% now while the Shanghai Composite is down by 1.0% going into the closing stages of the day.

US futures have slumped heavily ahead of European trading with Nasdaq futures leading losses, down by 2.3%. S&P 500 futures are down by 1.9%.

In the currencies space, the yen is leading gains amid the more defensive risk tilt with the dollar keeping more mixed so far. USD/JPY is trading at the lows close to 104.15-20 but is sandwiched between large option expiries at 104.00 and 104.50 once again.