TOKYO, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Asian stocks slid on Thursday

as chip-sector stocks tracked overnight declines by Wall Street

peers and Facebook owner Meta Platforms ( META ) warned of

accelerating costs for artificial intelligence.

More megacap tech earnings are due later in the day from

Apple ( AAPL ) and Amazon ( AMZN ).

The yen hovered close to a three-month low against the

dollar, weighed down by political instability after a drubbing

for Japan's ruling coalition in parliamentary elections last

weekend, which could delay a normalisation of monetary policy.

The Bank of Japan will announce a rate decision on Thursday,

with no change widely expected.

More broadly, the dollar was on the back foot after

extending its retreat from near a three-month peak to major

peers on Wednesday. Traders were looking ahead warily to a

pivotal week that includes monthly U.S. non-farm payrolls on

Friday, the presidential election next Tuesday and a Federal

Reserve policy decision next Thursday. Gold extended its record

high.

Japan's Nikkei share average fell 0.5% as of 0155

GMT. South Korea's Kospi dropped 1.3%.

North Korea stirred regional tensions by test firing what a

U.S. official said was an intercontinental ballistic missile

into the sea off the reclusive nation's east coast on Thursday.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.2%, but mainland

Chinese blue chips slipped 0.7%. Investors are

awaiting more clarity on stimulus from Beijing next week, when

officials convene a week-long congress.

Taiwanese markets were shuttered due to a typhoon.

Nasdaq futures pointed 0.45% lower after the cash

index declined 0.56% overnight. The Philadelphia SE

semiconductor index slumped 3.35%, with Advanced Micro

Devices ( AMD ) tumbling more than 10% following dour forecasts.

The U.S. dollar index was steady at 104.15 following

its pullback from the highest since Aug. 2 at 104.63 reached on

Tuesday.

The dollar edged up 0.05% to 153.48 yen staying

close to this week's high of 153.885 yen, a level previously not

seen since July 31.

There is no set time for the BOJ's policy announcement, but

it is expected some time after 0230 GMT. BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda

said while in Washington last week that the central bank could

afford the time to scrutinise risks to the economy in deciding

when to raise rates again.

"Japan's messy political situation is a boon for currency

speculators," said Shoki Omori, chief Japan desk strategist at

Mizuho Securities. But for the most part, "the ball is on the

dollar side," he said.

"If the U.S. sees more mixed data, we might see higher

volatility in the pair," Omori said. "Non-farm payrolls is going

to change the picture if it comes out completely different from

consensus."

The personal consumption expenditures index, the Fed's

preferred measure of inflation, is also due later on Thursday.

Meanwhile, in the final stretch of the U.S. presidential

contest, opinion polls still put Republican Donald Trump and

Democrat Kamala Harris neck-and-neck, although financial markets

and some betting platforms have been leaning toward a Trump

victory.

Gold reached a fresh all-time high of $2,790.15 per

ounce.

Oil prices extended a rally from Wednesday, driven by

optimism over U.S. fuel demand following an unexpected drop in

crude and gasoline inventories.

Brent crude futures gained 0.5% to $72.90 a barrel

and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures climbed

0.5% to $68.93 per barrel. Both contracts rose more than 2% in

the previous session.