Asian markets ended mostly lower on Friday. Japanese shares retreated as investors await a key US jobs report later in the day, which could provide more clarity on the inflation outlook, while worries about the extension of the Covid-19 state of emergency in several major areas too weighed on market sentiment. Street has predicted an improvement for May, with 650,000 jobs added, compared with April's surprisingly tepid gain of 266,000. The unemployment rate last month is forecast at 5.9%, down from 6.1% in April. However, Chinese shares ended marginally higher despite renewed worries over Sino-US tensions. US President Joe Biden expanded and updated a blacklist of Chinese companies with alleged ties to defence or surveillance technology sectors.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,591.84 | 7.63 | 0.21 |
Hang Seng | 28,918.10 | -47.93 | -0.17 |
Jakarta Composite | 6,065.17 | -26.34 | -0.43 |
KLSE Composite | 1,578.45 | -12.12 | -0.76 |
Nikkei 225 | 28,941.52 | -116.59 | -0.40 |
Straits Times | 3,151.04 | -13.96 | -0.44 |
KOSPI Composite | 3,240.08 | -7.35 | -0.23 |
Taiwan Weighted | 17,147.41 | -98.75 | -0.57 |