Asian shares sink on banking jitters, US economic concerns

Asian shares extended losses on Thursday as troubles at U.S. lender First Republic Bank continued to unnerve investors amid concerns that growth in the world’s biggest economy could surprise to the downside. Nevertheless, tech giants bucked the trend, with Nasdaq futures up 0.4%. Nomura shares fell by more than 7% after the biggest brokerage in Japan saw a sharp fall in quarterly net profit. Investors await news on whether buyers will step in and engineer a turnaround for First Republic Bank, whose market value sank 41% to $888m earlier this week.