March 15 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian

markets.

Asian markets are likely to come under downward pressure at the

open on Friday, following the sharp rise in U.S. bond yields and

the dollar the previous day on the back of yet another

hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation report.

Wall Street's late slide on Thursday - the S&P 500 and

Nasdaq both shed 0.3% - could tempt investors to play safe ahead

of the weekend and steer Asian equities away from what would be

their seventh weekly rise in eight.

The MSCI Asia ex-Japan index would need to avoid falling

0.5% or more to notch a weekly gain. Japan's Nikkei 225, on the

other hand, goes into Friday's session down more than 2% on the

week and on track for its worst week this year.

The pullback in Japanese stocks should come as little

surprise - the Nikkei hit a record high above 40,000 points last

week and the Bank of Japan next week could deliver its first

interest rate hike in 17 years.

The Asia and Pacific economic calendar on Friday includes

South Korean trade figures and import and export prices, New

Zealand's manufacturing PMI for February, and Japan's 'tertiary

index' gauge of conditions in the services sector.

Japan watchers are also awaiting the findings of a

preliminary survey of national wage round talks from labor union

umbrella group Rengo. Sources have told Reuters that signs of

strong wage growth could be the switch that flips the Bank of

Japan's into raising rates next week.

Japanese news agency Jiji reported on Thursday that the BOJ

has started to make arrangements to end its negative interest

rate policy next week.

The main indicator though will probably be Chinese house

prices for the month of February. They fell at an annual rate of

0.7% in January, the biggest decline in almost a year, and have

been declining almost every month since April 2022.

A turnaround in the embattled property sector is needed for

the broader economy to get going again, and to convince

investors that the market and economic nadir has passed.

Curiously, China's economic surprises index this week rose

to its highest level since October, begging the question: strong

data, or lousy expectations to begin with? Maybe a bit of both.

A reasonably bullish case, however, could be made for Asian

risk assets on Friday. Even though the U.S. 10-year yield and

dollar had their biggest rises in a month and Fed rate cut

expectations were pared back, Wall Street only fell 0.3%.

Chipmakers and tech stocks across the region could also get

a boost from Apple supplier Foxconn saying on Thursday that it

expects a significant rise in revenue driven by booming demand

for artificial intelligence servers.

Here are key developments that could provide more direction

to markets on Friday:

- China house prices (February)

- Japan tertiary index (January)

- New Zealand manufacturing PMI (February)

(By Jamie McGeever;)