TOKYO — Asian shares were mixed on Friday ahead of a much-anticipated US jobs report, which is expected to influence the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate moves.
In Asia, trading was cautious amid continued concerns about a potential U.S. recession. The labor market report, due later in the day, is key and could determine the size of the rate cut the Federal Reserve makes at its next meeting later this month.
After keeping key interest rates at their highest levels for two decades to suppress inflation, the Fed has signaled it will cut rates to prevent the economy from sliding into recession.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was little changed in morning trading, rising less than 0.1% to 36,657.79. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.6% to 7,998.00, while South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.8% to 2,529.31. The Shanghai Composite rose 0.3% to 2,797.15. Trading in Hong Kong was halted due to an approaching typhoon.
On Wall Street, most stocks fell Thursday after a mixed round of economic data. The S&The P 500 fell for the third time in a row, down 0.3%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 219 points, or 0.5%.
The Nasdaq Composite held up better than the rest of the market, rising 0.3% on gains from Tesla and a handful of other Big Tech stocks.
Treasury yields also fell a bit in the bond market after mixed economic reports. One report suggested that U.S. companies slowed their hiring last month, which was lower than expected, while another report said fewer U.S. workers filed for unemployment benefits last week than expected.
A separate report showed that growth at companies in the financial, health care and other service sectors was stronger than expected last month.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 3.73% from 3.76% on Wednesday night. It is down from 4.70% in April, which is a significant move for the bond market.
The yield on two-year government bonds was 3.74%, slightly higher than the yield on ten-year government bonds.
Verizon shares fell 0.4% after the company announced it would buy Frontier Communications in a $20 billion deal to bolster its fiber network. Tesla rose 4.9% after laying out a roadmap for future developments in artificial intelligence, including the possibility of fully self-driving cars in Europe and China.
All in all, the S&The P 500 fell 16.66 points to 5,503.41. The Dow fell 219.22 to 40,755.75 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 43.36 to 17,127.66.
In energy trading, U.S. benchmark crude rose 11 cents to $69.26 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 11 cents to $72.80 a barrel.
In currency trading, the US dollar fell slightly to 143.22 Japanese yen from 143.40 yen. The euro was worth $1.1113, a small change from $1.1112.
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AP writer Stan Choe contributed. Yuri Kageyama is on X: https://x.com/yurikageyama
