[HONG KONG] Most Asian stocks extended their selling on Thursday as a volatile week draws to an early close in many markets, while bubbling trade tensions and another painful day for Wall Street technology shares continued to feed uncertainty.

While news of Kim Jong Un's visit to China fuelled fresh hopes for stability on the Korean peninsula, investors have been more occupied with fears about a possible global trade war and a sell-off in the tech sector.

Market titan Facebook has led a plunge in big-name stocks on worries about a regulatory clampdown following a massive data breach at the social media site.

Tesla, Amazon, Twitter and Google parent Alphabet have also come under the cosh, sending the tech-rich Nasdaq southwards, with the index losing 0.9 per cent on Wednesday.

The Dow and S&P 500 also ended in the red.

There was little movement on news that the US economy had grown a lot faster in October-December than previously thought.

In Asia, Hong Kong sank 0.5 per cent, extending the previous day's 2.5 per cent dive, while Shanghai and Sydney were each 0.4 per cent off.

Seoul slipped 0.1 per cent, while Wellington and Taipei also fell.

However, Tokyo ended the morning session 0.6 per cent higher thanks to a drop in the yen against the dollar. Singapore was up 0.8 per cent.

Traders in Hong Kong, Sydney, Singapore and Wellington, among others, are also moving to close their positions before the end of the January-March quarter, with the Easter break beginning Friday.

Global markets have taken a hit in recent weeks on fears of a trade war as Donald Trump pushes through his protectionist agenda while the Federal Reserve prepares to lift interest rate hikes and other central banks also look to tighten monetary policies.

And analysts predict further ructions.

"We've done some damage with the correction and it's going to take some time to repair," Bob Doll, portfolio manager and chief equity strategist at Nuveen Asset Management, told Bloomberg TV.

"Expect choppy, sideways volatility."

AFP