Australia

The Australian sharemarket is set to fall today following losses across the globe on Friday. Financial shares tumbled after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. February jobs data revealed a stronger-than-expected US labor market.

ASX futures had lost 44 points or 0.6% as of 8:00am on Saturday, suggesting a decline at the open.

Stocks tumbled Friday, as investors ran for safe havens, unnerved by concerns about the health of the US financial system and a still-strong jobs report.

The selloff deepened after regulators shut down Silicon Valley Bank, marking the largest bank failure in the US since 2008. Bond yields tumbled.

The S&P 500 declined 1.5% while the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.1%. The Nasdaq Composite lost 1.8%. Investor sentiment has broadly soured in recent days, with the S&P 500 down nearly 5% on the week.

Silicon Valley Bank collapsed after a run on deposits doomed the tech-focused lender's plans to raise fresh capital.

Meanwhile, the government said Friday that US hiring grew solidly but cooled some in February as employers added 311,000 jobs, more than economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected. Still, wage growth was below expectations, and the unemployment rate ticked slightly higher to 3.6%.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil added 1.2% to $US82.60 a barrel while gold gained 2% to US$1,867.47.

Australian government bonds declined, with the 2 Year yield falling to 3.36% and the 10 Year dipping to 3.58%. Meanwhile, in the US, the yield on 2 Year Treasury notes inched higher to 4.58% and the yield on 10 Year notes edged lower to 3.69%

The Australian dollar hinted down to 65.81 US cents after previously closing at 65.88. The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which tracks the US dollar against 16 other currencies, was lower at 97.81.

Asia

Chinese shares closed lower as investors digested U.S. jobless claims, which remained historically low, signaling that the Fed could push rates higher than previously expected. Auto stocks led losses after BYD said it would offer discounts on some models, intensifying competition in the industry. BYD fell 5.05% and Great Wall Motor dropped by the daily limit of 10%. Property stocks declined as Hong Kong-listed Kaisa Group slumped in its first day of trading since last April, after it filed long-delayed financial results showing significant losses. Seazen Holdings dropped 2.7%. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.4% to 3230.08 and finished the week 3% lower. The Shenzhen Composite Index declined 1.2% and the ChiNext Price Index fell 0.1%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index extended its midday losses to end 3.0% lower at 19319.92, weighed by a risk-off sentiment amid worries over interest rates. Losses were broad-based on the HSI, with tech stocks among the biggest losers. JD.com slumped 11% after its Q1 revenue guidance missed estimates. Baidu dropped 5.9% and Xiaomi declined 3.7%. The Hang Seng Tech Index ended 3.8% lower at 3782.22. Other laggards included China Unicom, which fell 9.1%, BYD Co. with a 8.1% drop and Sands China, which declined 4.9%.

Japanese stocks ended lower, dragged by declines in financial shares after the Bank of Japan kept its easing program unchanged, dashing speculation for higher rates. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group dropped 6.1% and Dai-ichi Life Holdings lost 5.5%. The Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.7% to 28143.97.

Indian stocks ended lower, as the market continued to weaken from an earlier winning streak. The benchmark Sensex index lost 1.1% to settle at 59135.13. Banks led declines, as the sector pulled back from recent gains buoyed by expectations of higher interest rate increases. HDFC Bank shed 2.6% and State Bank of India lost 2.1%. IT-services providers also weighed on the market, with Infosys slipping 0.6% and Wipro falling 0.3%.

Europe

European stocks closed lower as troubles at tech-focused US lender Silicon Valley Bank sparked fears of a wider problem for the banking sector. The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 dropped 1.5%, Germany’s DAX slipped 1.3% and the French CAC 40 shed 1.3%. Bank and financial stocks slumped Friday as SVB shares were suspended after falling sharply Thursday. Reports indicate the lender is exploring a potential sale and has abandoned a capital raising aimed at covering losses in its bond portfolio.

"It is fair to say that the double whammy of bond losses on bank balance sheets and a flight of customer deposits is creating a risk for many US banks," Syz Bank chief investment officer Charles-Henry Monchau wrote.

In London, the FTSE 100 index closed Friday down 1.7% to 7748 points amid a red sea in European equities. The financial sector weighed on the British index despite better-than-expected U.S. jobs data, IG Group chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp said in a note. "(U.S. Federal Reserve Chair) Powell's testimony meant that 50 basis points was suddenly the general forecast, but lower earnings data and a rising unemployment rate have seen the forecasts go back to 25 basis points," Beauchamp added.

Among the United Kingdom’s top fallers were online grocer Ocado, which slipped 6.5%, followed by Hargreaves Lansdown and Admiral, down 5.6% and 5.1%, respectively.

North America

Stocks tumbled Friday, as investors ran for safe havens, unnerved by concerns about the health of the US financial system and a still-strong jobs report.

The selloff deepened after regulators shut down Silicon Valley Bank, marking the largest bank failure in the US since 2008. Bond yields tumbled.

The S&P 500 declined 1.5% while the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.1%. The Nasdaq Composite lost 1.8%. Investor sentiment has broadly soured in recent days, with the S&P 500 down nearly 5% on the week.

Silicon Valley Bank collapsed after a run on deposits doomed the tech-focused lender's plans to raise fresh capital.

Meanwhile, the government said Friday that US hiring grew solidly but cooled some in February as employers added 311,000 jobs, more than economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected. Still, wage growth was below expectations, and the unemployment rate ticked slightly higher to 3.6%.

Stocks initially wavered after Friday's jobs report offered mixed signals for the Federal Reserve's efforts to tame inflation, then sold off broadly after the news of the bank collapse. All S&P 500 sectors closed in the red, as the broad-based index headed for its worst week since at least September.

Taken together, unemployment ticking higher and signs of stress in banking could cause the Federal Reserve to alter its rate-hike pace. Investors have been looking for a slowdown in the labor market that would allow the Fed to ease its pace of rate increases, since wage growth is a major contributor to inflation.

"The Fed now has very clear evidence that they are having an impact on the financial system and the economy -- rate hikes are starting to bite, " said Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management. "While that's not enough to give them pause, it is something they will take into consideration."

Major US banks had already lost billions in market value on Thursday after SVB's troubles first prompted broader concerns about the health of the financial sector.

Trading of SVB shares was halted Friday morning after a 68% premarket selloff as the bank rushed to raise fresh capital. SVB said it had lost nearly $2 billion after being forced to sell assets to cover deposit withdrawals. The attempted capital raise failed, and by midday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said it had taken control.

SVB's woes have highlighted a consequence of rising interest rates for some lenders. Rising rates have led to a slump in bond prices, meaning many banks that hold large quantities of bonds are sitting on large unrealized losses.

The issue spotlights the broader impact the Fed's interest rate increases are having on the economy and banks in particular, said Altaf Kassam, head of investment strategy and research for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at State Street Global Advisors.

"The broader worry is that not just Silicon Valley Bank but that in the broader economy banks lent a lot in the good times when rates were so low, which as rates have now risen so dramatically, is going to come back to haunt them," he said.