Asia markets poised for fall ahead of Japan trade balance and Australia unemployment figures

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Sydney Harbour in Australia, featuring the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge.

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Asia-Pacific markets are set to fall ahead of Japan's trade balance figures for September and as Australia awaits its unemployment data for September.

This also mirrors moves on Wall Street as U.S. Treasury yields jumped to multiyear highs, with the 10-year Treasury yield breaking above 4.9% for the first time since 2007.

Meanwhile, the average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage rate hit 8%, the highest level since 2000.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 slid 1.36% in early trade, erasing all the gains it's made this week.

Japan's Nikkei 225 is also set to fall, with the futures contract in Chicago at 31,625 and its counterpart in Osaka at 31,640 against the index's last close of 32,042.

Futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng index stood at 17,569, extending losses from Wednesday and pointing to a weaker open compared with the HSI's close of 17,732.52.

On Wednesday in the U.S., all three major indexes tumbled, with none of them in positive territory at any point during the session.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipping 0.98%, or over 300 points. The S&P 500 slid 1.34%, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.62%.

— CNBC's Samantha Subin and Alex Harring contributed to this report.

Economy shows no change, hiring and prices up, Fed report says

The U.S. economy showed "little or no change" over the past six weeks, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday in its Beige Book report.

Spending was described as "mixed" while prices increased "at a modest pace," the report said. Companies said they expect inflation to continue rising, thought at a slower pace.

On employment, most areas saw "slight to moderate increases" as firms hired "less urgently." More broadly, respondents expected economic growth ahead to be "stable or having slightly weaker growth."

—Jeff Cox

Equities appear in 'pretty good shape' so long as Middle East conflict remains contained, says Citi's Chronert

Equities are in "uncertain mode" as geopolitical tensions persist in the Middle East, but the market should remain in decent condition so long as the conflict is contained, according to Citi's Scott Chronert.

"The way I'm thinking about it is contained versus escalating," the U.S. equity strategist told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Wednesday. "As long as it remains contained, I think that our view towards U.S. equities is in pretty good shape."

Fundamentals for the stock market also appear good, further underscored by the third-quarter earnings reported so far, he added.

— Samantha Subin

Key Treasury yields rise, pressuring equities

U.S. Treasury yields rose on Wednesday, with the 10-year hitting a fresh multiyear high. The move up pressured stocks.

The 10-year Treasury yield was up by nearly 7 basis points to 4.911%, putting it above 4.9% for the first time since 2007. Meanwhile, the 2-year Treasury yield was climbed almost 2 basis points to 5.231%, hovering around levels last seen in 2006.

Also of the note, the 5-year Treasury touched as high as 4.937%, its top level since 2007.

Yields and prices move in opposite directions and one basis point equals 0.01%.

— Alex Harring, Sophie Kiderlin