TOKYO — Asian stocks fell early Thursday morning following losses on Wall Street, as investors grappled with the recent volatility that has rocked global markets.

The Japanese benchmark index Nikkei 225 fell by as much as 2.4 percent to 34,264.75 in morning trading. The Australian SandP/ASX 200 lost 0.6% to 7,652.70. South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.8% to 2,523.52.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 1.1% to 16,694.63.

The future for the SandThe P500 lost 0.2% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1%.

Although Wall Street stocks plunged on Wednesday, the decline was not as severe as the manic moves that previously rocked global markets. European markets posted strong gains.

Japanese policymakers sought to calm concerns about possible interest rate hikes on Wednesday, after a hike in the benchmark rate on Monday contributed to heavy selling as the Nikkei suffered its biggest percentage loss since 1987.

The Japanese yen remained relatively stable after gaining sharply against the U.S. dollar, prompting investors to dump stocks on Friday and Monday. The U.S. dollar fell to 146.37 Japanese yen from 146.72 yen. The euro was trading at 1.0928 dollars, little changed from 1.0927 dollars.

Investors are also closely following earnings reports released around the world.

Honda Motor Co. and Sony Corp. both reported relatively positive financial results this week. Honda’s shares rose 1% in morning trading, while Sony gained 2.2%.

Taiwanese trade data for July, due later in the day, is expected to be weaker, but still shows growth in both exports and imports. The benchmark Taiex index fell 2.5 percent in morning trading.

“The latest export orders data suggest that export strength will continue to be concentrated in technology-related exports; other categories continued to show mixed performance, but overall there have been signs of a broader recovery across several industries in recent months,” said Robert Carnell, regional head of Asia-Pacific research at ING Economics.

On Wednesday, SandThe P 500 lost 0.8%, after paring an earlier 1.7% gain, to close at 5,199.50. The Dow fell 0.6% to 38,763.45. The Nasdaq Composite fell 1% to 16,195.81.

The yield on two-year Treasury bonds remained at the same level as late Tuesday at 3.99% on Wednesday.

Nvidia, one of the most influential companies on Wall Street, lost 4.4 percent in the morning but then lost 5.1 percent, becoming the heaviest weight in the index. Nvidia and other big tech stocks have struggled amid concerns that their prices have shot up too much amid Wall Street excitement about artificial intelligence.

Helping to limit losses on Wall Street was Apple, whose shares rose 1.2 percent. The company recovered some of its losses from earlier in the week after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway announced that it had reduced its stake in the iPhone maker.

Wall Street expects the Fed to cut its benchmark interest rate by either the usual quarter of a percentage point or a more drastic half a percentage point at its next meeting next month.

In energy trading, US oil rose 16 cents to $75.39 per barrel. Brent oil, the international standard, rose 11 cents to $78.44 per barrel.

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AP business writer Stan Choe contributed.