Asia markets came under pressure on Friday, following the weaker lead from Wall Street after Senate Republicans unveiled their tax reform plan on Thursday.

The Nikkei 225 tumbled 0.82 percent, or 187.29 points, to close at 22,681.42, extending losses made on Thursday when the index sharply fell in the second half of the day after gaining some 2 percent during morning trade.

Across the Korean Strait, the Kospi lost 0.3 percent to end at 2,542.95. Gains were seen in some manufacturing names, with Posco climbing 1.25 percent, but blue chip names struggled: SK Hynix closed down 0.49 percent, LG Electronics eased 1.67 percent and Hyundai Motors fell 0.64 percent by the end of the day.

Down Under, the S&P/ASX 200 closed down 0.33 percent at 6,029.37 as the materials sub-index led losses on the broader index: Rio Tinto closed down 2.26 percent and BHP lost 1.96 percent.

Greater China markets hovered near the flat line. Hong Kong's added 0.04 percent by 3:02 p.m. HK/SIN while mainland markets bucked the trend in the region to close slightly higher. The edged up 0.16 percent at 3,433.35 and the Shenzhen Composite advanced 0.52 percent at 2,039.17.

China on Friday said it would ease foreign equity ownership rules limiting foreign ownership in financial sector joint-venture companies to 49 percent. The new limit would be increased to 51 percent. Insurance companies climbed following the news: New China Insurance surged 9.04 percent and Ping An Insurance closed up 5.38 percent.

"Global risk appetite retracted amid concerns about the U.S. tax bill prospectus as the Senate plans to push through a different proposal from the House," OCBC Bank said in its morning note.

The pullback in regional markets, however, was likely temporary in nature, one expert said.

"Safe haven assets were only mildly bid, suggesting this is corrective action rather than an unfolding reversal," Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets said in a note.