Asian markets settled mostly down on Friday on caution ahead of US December jobs report later today, which may provide clues on the Federal Reserve's interest rate trajectory. Markets sentiments weakened further as 10-year US Treasury yields hovered around nine-month highs after Fed officials are signalled concerns that President-elect Donald Trump's trade and immigration policies could stoke inflation. Seoul shares declined due to profit taking from recent gains mainly in technology shares. Chinese shares fell and the yuan slipped to a new 16-month low as the People's Bank of China halted its government bond purchases amid record-low bond yields. Moreover, Japanese markets dropped amidst Fed and BoJ policy uncertainties.
| Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
| Shanghai Composite | 3,168.52 | -42.87 | -1.35 |
| Hang Seng | 19,064.29 | -176.60 | -0.93 |
| Jakarta Composite | 7,088.87 | 24.28 | 0.34 |
| KLSE Composite | 1,602.41 | 1.60 | 0.10 |
| Nikkei 225 | 39,190.40 | -414.69 | -1.06 |
| Straits Times | 3,801.56 | -61.04 | -1.61 |
| KOSPI Composite | 2,515.78 | -6.12 | -0.24 |
| Taiwan Weighted | 23,011.86 | -69.27 | -0.30 |
