TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares fell Thursday after Wall Street slumped under pressure from the Treasury bond market and worries about surging U.S. debt.

U.S. futures were little changed, while Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 shed 1.0% in afternoon trading to 36,944.55.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.9% to 23,615.21, while the Shanghai Composite edged down 0.1% to 3,383.10.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.5% to 8,342.80. South Korea's Kospi dropped 1.1% to 2,595.69.

Rising yields for U.S. Treasury bonds are a canary in the coal mine, Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

“The U.S. still has the biggest markets, the deepest liquidity, and the dollar’s inertia working in its favor. But even inertia can’t outrun compound interest and structural deficits forever,” he wrote.

The declining U.S. dollar also weighed on regional markets, according to some analysts, because some Asian nations have significant holdings in dollars.

A weak dollar also hurts Asian exporters, such as Japanese automakers and electronics companies, by reducing the value of their overseas earnings when they are converted into yen.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar fell to 143.27 Japanese yen from 143.68 yen. It had been trading at 150 yen levels a year ago. The euro cost $1.1335, up from $1.1330.

Investors remain worried over President Donald Trump's actions, including tariff policies that directly affect Asian companies and decisions on major legislation such as a funding bill now in Congress.

“U.S. equities slumped in a ‘Sell America’ move as things turned ugly on Trump’s ‘big, beautiful tax bill.’ ” said Tan Jing Yi, analyst at Mizuho Bank in Singapore.

On Wednesday, shares tumbled on Wall Street after the U.S. government released the results for its latest auction of 20-year bonds.

The government regularly sells such bonds, which is how it borrows money to pay its bills. In this auction, the U.S. government had to pay a yield as high as 5.047% to attract enough buyers to lend it a total of $16 billion over 20 years.

That helped push up yields for all kinds of other Treasurys, including the more widely followed 10-year Treasury. Its yield climbed to 4.59% from 4.48% late Tuesday and from just 4.01% early last month. That’s a notable move in the bond market.

The S&P 500 fell 1.6% for a second straight drop after breaking a six-day winning streak, closing at 5,844.61.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.9% to 41,860.44, while the Nasdaq composite sank 1.4% to 18,872.64.

Stocks had been drifting only modestly lower early in the day, after Target and other retailers gave mixed forecasts for upcoming profits amid uncertainty caused by President Donald Trump’s trade war .