Stock exchanges in the Asia-Pacific region were mostly down in the afternoon trading on Friday tracking mixed signals on Wall Street, as investors braced for the update on the labor market in the United States. The negative sentiment was seemingly fueled by concerns over interest rate hikes, as the data on nonfarm payroll employment is likely to act as a proxy for the Federal Reserve's monetary policy.
The downward trend appeared to be prompted by the Bank of Japan (BoJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda's remarks which further exacerbated fears over global economic uncertainty.
Japan's Nikkei 225 closed the session recording a 1.59% slump, sinking 488 points. At 7:12 am CET, South Korean Kospi dropped 1.77%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged down by 0.72%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was flat. Shanghai Composite was down by 0.17% at the same time, while Shenzhen Composite rose 0.23%.
The American dollar slipped 0.20% against the Japanese yen, to change hands to ¥135.04750 at 7:30 am CET.
