March 6 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian

markets.

Maybe some of the recent exuberance was of the irrational

variety.

The selloff across risk assets on Tuesday will almost

certainly put Asian markets on the defensive on Wednesday: Asian

stocks had their worst day since January, the Nasdaq lost 1.7%,

and bitcoin slumped 9% after briefly touching a new high

Wednesday.

The regional calendar includes South Korean inflation and

Australia's fourth-quarter GDP, while China's annual National

People's Congress continues into its second day.

But Wednesday's tone will likely be set by Tuesday's global

market moves.

The 'risk off' nature of Tuesday's trading was underscored

by the fall in Treasury yields to one-month lows and gold rising

for a fifth day to an all-time high of $2,141 per ounce.

There were several drivers behind the selloff, including

weak U.S. service sector figures, caution ahead of Fed Chair

Jerome Powell's Congressional testimony on Wednesday, and a

suspected arson attack at Tesla's Gigafactory in Berlin.

Perhaps most alarming, however, was the report by research

firm Counterpoint that Apple's iPhone sales in China fell 24%

year-on-year in the first six weeks of this year, during which

time domestic rival Huawei saw unit sales rise by 64%.

This could fan fears of a slowdown in demand for the U.S.

company, whose revenue forecast for the current quarter was $6

billion below Wall Street expectations. China, Hong Kong and

Taiwan account for around a fifth of Apple's total sales.

It is also a reminder of the trade tensions between the

United States and China, which could intensify further if Donald

Trump gets the keys to White House again and follows through on

his pledge to slap huge tariffs on Chinese goods.

Investors will have noted official reports in China that

Beijing is targeting annual GDP growth this year of around 5%

and aims to increase defence spending by 7.2%.

Staying in China, struggling property developer China Vanke

said it has funding in place to repay $630 million in dollar

notes due next week, amid more selling pressure on its bonds as

concern mounts over its liquidity.

China's No.2 property developer by sales said the repayment

process was "orderly". But again, this is just a reminder of the

deep hole China's property sector is in.

Yet Chinese stocks rose for a fifth day - the CSI 300 index

of blue chips is now up 13 out of the last 15 days - and the

10-year Chinese government bond yields slid to a new all-time

low.

According to Reuters polls, data on Wednesday should show

Australia's GDP grew at a 1.4% annual pace in the final quarter

of last year, compared with 2.1% in the prior quarter, while

annual inflation in South Korea inched up to 2.9% in February

from 2.8%.

Here are key developments that could provide more direction

to markets on Wednesday:

- China National People's Congress

- Australia GDP (Q4)

- South Korea inflation (February)

(By Jamie McGeever;)