All quiet in Asian markets ahead of U.S. jobs report

Asia-Pacific stock markets were relatively quiet Friday as investors awaited the April jobs report out of the U.S.

Benchmarks in Australia  , New Zealand   and Hong Kong   didn’t move much in early trading.

“I don’t think much will happen” ahead of the jobs report, said Tareck Horchani, head of Asia-Pacific sales trading at Saxo Markets.

He added that equities “could see a short-term bounce” if U.S. job growth comes in weak, as that would likely cool concerns about an accelerated pace of Federal reserve rate rises.

South Korea’s benchmark was lagging as index giant Samsung  had its first trading action after undergoing a 50-for-1 stock split. It was recently down 0.8%, helping to push the Kospi   0.5% lower.

And Korean bank shares were down about 2%. Financials also started lower in Malaysia and Singapore, with the latter’s Straits Times Index   down 0.5%.

The Nikkei in Japan remained closed for a holiday and across Asia, currency and commodity markets were little changed.

Bitcoin   bounced Thursday in the U.S. to move back toward $10,000, according to CoinDesk. The cryptocurrency hasn’t reached that point in two months.