Asia-Pacific stocks mostly slide as Russia-Ukraine tensions continue to rattle investors

SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific largely declined in Friday trade, as simmering tensions between Ukraine and Russia continue to keep investors on edge.

Japan's Nikkei 225 shed 0.23%, trimming losses after declining more than 1% earlier, while the Topix index dipped 0.21%. Over in South Korea, the Kospi fell 0.21%.

Mainland Chinese stocks were mixed as the Shanghai composite hovered above the flatline and the Shenzhen component edged 0.364% lower. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 0.48%.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.55%.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.39% lower.

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis is at a pivotal moment, with Kyiv accusing pro-Moscow separatists of attacking a village near the border.

Fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine have driven investors toward safe-haven assets such as gold. Spot gold was last at $1,890.13 per ounce, following its ascent earlier in the week from below $1,860.

The Japanese yen, also commonly seen as a safe-haven asset, traded at 115.16 per dollar — still stronger than levels above 115.6 seen against the greenback earlier this week.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 622.24 points to 34,312.03. The S&P 500 shed 2.12% to 4,380.26 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 2.88% to 13,716.72.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 95.807 after declining from above 96 earlier this week.

The Australian dollar was at $0.7205, above an earlier low of $0.7175.

Oil prices were lower in the afternoon of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures down 0.56% to $92.45 per barrel. U.S. crude futures shed 0.75% to $91.07 per barrel.