Asian equity benchmarks are trading down in the early deals on Friday, tracking the lackluster cues overnight from Wall Street and as investors turned cautious ahead of the release of the closely watched April US non-farm payrolls report later in the day. The US Labor Department report is expected to show an increase of about 200,000 jobs in April, while the unemployment rate is expected to edge down to 4.9 percent. The data could have a significant impact on the outlook for whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at its next meeting in June. Meanwhile, Japanese stocks fell on resumption of trading after a three-day holiday closure as an air of caution prevailed ahead of a key US jobs report, while investors were also worried about the impact of a strong yen on corporate profits. Among the other Asian markets, South Korea, and Indonesia are closed for public holidays.
Nikkei 225 dipped 112.69 points or 0.70% to 16,034.69, Hang Seng dropped 266.39 points or 1.30% to 20,183.43, Straits Times slipped 34.31 points or 1.24% to 2,733.50, Shanghai Composite contracted 55.38 points or 1.85% to 2,942.46, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 0.74 points or 0.04% to 1,644.35, and Taiwan Weighted was down by 20.31 points or 0.25% to 8,147.65.
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