SYDNEY, NSW, Australia - Another spike in bond yields, and oil prices sent shares in Asia sharply lower on Friday, however, losses were trimmed later in the day.

The U.S. dollar benefited from the rising yields, and the stocks -sell-off.

Despite climbing interest rates, U.S. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell on Thursday reiterated his vow that official interest rates would be maintained at current levels.

"The market was seemingly looking for Powell to push back harder on the recent increase in yields," Ray Attrill, head of forex strategy at National Australia Bank told Reuters Thomson Friday.

"Volatility seen in local interest rate markets yesterday with another large increase in long-term rates and government bond yields has set the scene for a choppy market again today if overnight developments are any guide," he said.

The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo was down some hundreds of points but pared the loss to towards the close. The key index eventually closed down 65.79 points or 0.23 percent at 28,864.32.

The Australian All Ordinaries weakened 57.60 points or 0.82 percent to 6,943.00

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gave up 138.50 points or 0.47 percent to 29,998.29.

China's Shanghai Composite ended down just 1.50 points or 0.04 percent at 3,501.99 Friday after stocks were sold heavily earlier.

The U.S. dollar continued its recovery, pushing the euro down to 1.1957 around the Sydney close on Friday. The British pound plummeted to 1.3887. The Japanese yen was sharply weaker at 108.19. The Swiss franc dived to 0.9291.

The Canadian dollar fell to 1.2655. The Australian dollar tumbled to 0.7722. The New Zealand dollar decelerated to 0.7176.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Nasdaq Composite declined 274.28 points or 2.11 percent to 12,723.47.

The Standard and Poor's 500 fell 51.25 points or 1.34 percent to 3,768.47.

The Dow Jones Industrials lost 345.95 points or 1.11 percent to 30,924.14.