Asia report: Markets mixed as investors look to US jobs report

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was up 0.32% at 21,410.20, as the yen strengthened 0.18% against the dollar to last trade at JPY 106.73.

Of the major components on the benchmark index, automation specialist Fanuc was down 1.49% and fashion firm Fast Retailing slipped 0.62%, while technology conglomerate SoftBank Group added 0.12%.

The broader Topix index was ahead 0.26% in Tokyo, to close out its trading session at 1,572.90.

On the mainland, markets remained closed for the extended public holiday celebrating the anniversary of communist rule in China.

South Korea’s Kospi was 0.55% weaker at 2,020.69, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong slid 1.11% to settle at 25,821.03.

Hong Kong’s chief executive Carrie Lam told media on Friday that a ban on face masks was justified as “almost all protesters who carry out vandalism and violence covered their face”.

The special administrative region of China has been rocked by more than four months of disruptive political protest, with a large number of citizens rallying against tighter control from Beijing, and in favour of universal suffrage in the city.

MTR Corporation, which operates Hong Kong’s metro system and has seen its infrastructure frequently damaged and disrupted by the protests - was down 1.91%.

Both of the blue-chip technology stocks were in the green in Seoul, with Samsung Electronics rising 0.84% and SK Hynix up 1.01%.

Investors were turning their attention stateside late in the Asian day, after a decent performance on Wall Street overnight and ahead of the nonfarm payrolls data for September.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average recovered from some serious losses earlier in the week on Thursday, as investors used recent weak economic data to bet on the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates at its October meeting.

ISM’s services sector measure fell to its weakest level in three years, while manufacturing activity shrank to its lowest level in more than 10 years.

“If jobs numbers meet or beat expectations, it will be welcome news for the US economy but will undermine the case for more aggressive easing from the Fed,” said London Capital Group head of research Jasper Lawler.

“The Fed [is] clearly worried about Trump’s trade war, and the decade low in US manufacturing activity this month supports this view.

“But we think they only start to react with loser policy when the US consumer is affected, and that will start when unemployment rises.”

Oil prices were mixed as the region entered the weekend, with Brent crude last up 0.21% at $57.83 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate down 0.27% at $52.31.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was 0.37% firmer at 6,517.10, with biotechnology company CSL among the leading risers, surging 3.19%.

Fresh retail sales data out of Canberra for August disappointed, as it missed expectations, although it was still an improvement on July’s measures.

Retail sales in the sunburnt country were up 0.4% month-on-month on a seasonally-adjusted basis, which was less than the 0.5% rise forecast by a Reuters poll, but better than the flat result reported a month earlier.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 was up 0.7% at 10,892.82, with outdoor clothing and equipment brand Kathmandu rising 1.6% as it completed a bookbuild to fund the acquisition of Australian surfwear giant Rip Curl.

Kathmandu was raising NZD 145m in the offer, although the transaction was yet to receive shareholder approval, and its largest shareholder - local retail giant Briscoe Group - did not take up all of its rights in the offer.

Both of the down under dollars were stronger on the greenback, with the Aussie last ahead 0.3% at AUD 1.4788, and the Kiwi advancing 0.51% to NZD 1.5799.