Stocks in Asia declined on Friday as fears over the spread of the coronavirus globally drove investors to safety.

China's Shenzhen stocks led losses among major markets regionally as they closed sharply lower. The Shenzhen component was 4.8% lower at 10,980.77 while the Shenzhen composite dropped 4.928% to approximately 1,801.75. The Shanghai composite was down 3.71% to end its trading day at 2,880.30.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 2.42% to close at 26,129.93.

Japanese stocks also saw major declines. The Nikkei 225 dropped 3.67% to close at 21,142.96 while the Topix index fell 3.65% to end its trading day at 1,510.87.

Data on Friday showed retail sales in Japan declining 0.4% year-on-year in January. That compared against a median market forecast for a 1.1% decline, according to Reuters.

South Korea's Kospi was down 3.3% to end its trading day at 1,987.01 while the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia plunged 3.25% to close at 6,441.20.

Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index dropped 2.57%.

Market movements in recent days have resulted in seven major Asia-Pacific markets falling into correction territory, including Japan's Nikkei 225 and South Korea's Kospi.

Meanwhile, the yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury touched new record lows, according to Reuters. It was last at 1.1666%.

The rapid spread of the coronavirus outside of China, where the disease was first reported, has weighed on sentiment in recent days over its potential impact on economic growth and corporate earnings. In South Korea, more than 1,700 cases of infection have been confirmed, while over 600 people have contracted the virus in Italy so far.

"I think what's happening right now is the concern for investors is that they believe that this epidemic is probably, you know, getting to a stage where it could become a global pandemic," Chetan Seth, Asia Pacific equity strategist at Nomura, told CNBC's "Street Signs" on Friday.

"If you look at, you know, the data around new virus cases … what's happening is … in China the number of cases are going down but outside of China the number of cases are going up and I think that's where the uncertainty comes from," Seth said.