Asian stocks mixed as investor focus turns to payrolls

Asian stocks mixed as investor focus turns to payrolls

U.S. futures edged higher and Asian stocks were mixed Friday as investor focus turned to upcoming data from the American labor market. Treasuries steadied after declining all week.

Shares climbed in Hong Kong and South Korea but slipped in Japan. S&P 500 futures saw modest gains. The U.S. benchmark closed little changed after attempting to rebound from a near 2% drop Wednesday sparked by Federal Reserve meeting minutes that suggested the central bank is ready to raise rates sooner and higher than previously expected. Ten-year Treasury yields dipped to 1.71%, still set for their biggest weekly jump since 2020.

Comments by regional Fed presidents provided some additional insight Thursday as traders attempted to predict a possible schedule for tightening. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, a more hawkish policy maker, said in a speech the central bank could raise its target interest rate as soon as March. Meanwhile, San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said at a virtual event that trimming the Fed balance sheet would come after normalizing the Fed funds rate.

S&P 500 futures rose 0.2%.

Japan’s Topix Index fell 0.6%, S&P/ASX 200 climbed 1.2%, Korea’s Kospi Index rose 1%, Hang Seng Index rose 0.6% and the CSI 300 Index rose 0.4%.

Overnight, Wall Street stocks finished modestly lower after a choppy session as markets digested mixed economic data and amid concerns over tightening Federal Reserve monetary policy.

After Wednesday’s rout, stocks attempted to rally during the session, but bargain hunting efforts were not sustained.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.5% at 36,236.47. The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.1% to end 4,696.05, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index also declined 0.1% to 15,080.86.