New Delhi, June 26 -- Asian equities fell sharply on Friday, 26 June, as heavyweight semiconductor stocks gave back a portion of their previous session's gains, highlighting the volatility that has gripped global technology markets this week.

A broad gauge of Asian stocks dropped 1.7%, while South Korea's tech-heavy Kospi index tumbled more than 3%. US equity futures also pointed to a weaker opening, with Nasdaq-100 futures down 0.6% and S&P 500 futures down 0.2%.

The Indian stock market is closed today, 26 June, for the Muharram holiday. Trading on both the major stock exchanges, BSE and the National Stock Exchange (NSE), will remain shut today.

The weakness followed a mixed session on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 ended largely unch...