Investing.com - Asian shares traded mixed on Friday morning in quite trade as investors waited for the U.S. labor report later in the day.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.1% and South Korea's KOSPI fell 0.3%. Japan's Nikkei 225 eased down 0.44% lower, as the dollar was a touch lower against the yen.
Elsewhere, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.25% at the end of morning trade while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.36%
In corporate news, building and construction materials supplier (BLD.ASX) fell 0.4% in Sydney and building product company (CSR.ASX)added 0.1%, after the two companies proposed to combine their brick operations on the East Coast of Australia in a joint venture.
Overnight, U.S. stocks edged lower as investors jumped to the sidelines to await the release of the March jobs report on Friday, which markets hope will reveal how fast the U.S. economy is recovering.
The Dow 30 ended the session flat, the S&P 500fell 0.11%, while the Nasdaq fell 0.91%.
The Labor Department on Friday will release its March jobs report, and investors jumped into the safety of the dollar and avoided stocks on Thursday to await the data.
Many are hoping the nonfarm payrolls data will shed light as to how U.S. recovery is unfolding and indicate how fast the Federal Reserve will unwind its bond-buying program that has boosted stocks since late 2012.
The Fed's bond-purchasing program, currently set at $55 billion a month, bolsters stocks by suppressing long-term borrowing costs, though a Fed decision to close the program reflects a stronger economy, which is also good for stocks, and investors spent Thursday in a wait-and-see mode before the report hits the wire.
After the close of European trade Thursday, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 rose 0.60%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.42%, while Germany's DAX rose 0.06%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 fell 0.15%.