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Tech conglomerate SoftBank plunged more than 10% Friday amid losses across the region, after U.S. tech stocks lost ground and investors’ hopes dimmed of a December rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 tumbled 1.57% at the open, while the Topix index lost 0.72%. Other tech stocks on the index fell, with Advantest losing more than 9%, Tokyo Electron retreating nearly 6%, Lasertec falling nearly 5%, and Renesas Electron down 1.95%.

Japan’s core inflation in October rose at its sharpest rate since July, in line with market estimates on Friday, supporting the case for interest rate hikes by the Bank of Japan.

South Korea’s Kospi index plunged 4.09%, and the small-cap Kosdaq retreated 3.01%. Kospi’s heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix tumbled as much as 4% and 9%, respectively.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.3%.

Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 25,460, lower than the HSI’s last close of 25,835.57.

Overnight in the U.S., Oracle and AMD were among the first AI plays to fall into the red on the session, followed by Nvidia, which reversed gains and closed nearly 3% lower.

Stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs data renewed doubts about whether the central bank will lower its benchmark overnight rate. Traders were pricing roughly a 40% chance of a quarter-point cut next month, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, a setback for investors hoping for lower borrowing costs.

On Thursday stateside, the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.16%, down from a 2.6% advance at one point in the session.

Other major indexes also slipped, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.84%. The S&P 500 shed 1.56%, despite rising as much as 1.9% earlier in the day.

—CNBC’s Liz Napolitano, Pia Singh, and Alex Harring contributed to this report.

Japan’s core inflation in October rose at its sharpest rate since July, in line with market estimates on Friday, supporting the case for interest rate hikes by the Bank of Japan.

Core inflation, which strips out prices of fresh food, came in at 3% as expected by economists polled by Reuters.

The headline inflation rate rose to 3%, marking the the 43rd month in a row that it has run above the BOJ’s 2% target.

The so-called “core-core” inflation rate, which strips out prices of fresh food and energy, crept up to at 3.1%, compared to 3% in September.

The data comes as BOJ governor Kazuo Ueda reportedly had his first bilateral meeting with newly elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi earlier this week.

During the meeting, Ueda told Takaichi the central bank was “gradually raising interest rates to guide inflation smoothly towards its 2% target and ensure the economy achieves sustainable growth,” Reuters reported.

Takaichi has been an advocate of loose monetary policy, and had said on Nov. 12 to the country’s parliament that she hopes that the BOJ “conducts policy appropriately” so that the 2% inflation target is achieved by wage gains instead of cost-push factors.

“The type of inflation we’re seeing now is not good,” Takaichi reportedly said. The BOJ governor also said that Takaichi did not make any request related to monetary policy.

The central bank is currently caught between a rock and a hard place, with inflation running above target and GDP growth figures weakening as Japan takes a hit from U.S. tariffs.

Japan’s GDP in the three months to September contracted for the first time in six quarters, falling 0.4% sequentially, and dipping 1.8% on an annualized basis