Investing.com - Shares in Asia fell on Friday with investors geared up for U.S. jobs data later in the day.
The Nikkei 225 slipped 0.72% after returning from a week-long break, while the S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.39%.
Australia saw a busy day with a central bank policy statement possibly setting the stage for lower rates.
"The Reserve Bank of Australia’s new forecast that underlying inflation will remain below the 2-3% target range until the middle of 2018 supports our long-held view that interest rates will be cut again to 1.5% before long," Capital Economics said in a note to clients.
"After previously forecasting that underlying inflation would be 2.0% this year and around 2.5% next year, the RBA has concluded that it will stay at 1.5% in the second quarter and will stay below 2% all of next year. Part of the downward revision is due to the fact that underlying inflation fell much further than the RBA expected in the first quarter. But the Bank has also concluded that wage growth will remain lower for longer. The clear implication is that monetary policy will need to do more to boost underlying inflation. Tuesday’s 0.25% rate cut to 1.75% will probably be followed by another cut in August."
The AIG construction index in Australia rose to 50.8, reaching expansion territory in April from a previous level of 45.2.
HIA economist Diwa Hopkins said the results show that activity in Australia's residential construction sector is easing from the record levels of 2015.
"The latest cut to the official cash rate - and critically, its pass-on by the major lenders - will support healthy levels of new home building over the near to medium term. Nevertheless, the level of building is still likely to be shy of what occurred in 2015."
Markets in Japan re-opened Friday as the Golden Week holiday ends with the focus on whether Japan policy-makers will intervene to slow the yen's rise.
The Shanghai Composite Index was last down 1.19%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was last down 1.31%.
The yuan rose marginally against the dollar on Friday
although the People's Bank of China set the fixing weaker for a third consecutive day at 6.5202 compared with 6.5128 previously.
Overnight, U.S. stocks were mixed on Thursday on a cautious day of trading, as investors looked ahead to a critical monthly jobs report at week's end for further clues on the strength of the economy.
When the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) releases its April jobs report on Friday morning, analysts expect an increase of 200,000 in nonfarm payrolls following gains of 215,000 a month earlier. Economists are also anticipating a slight dip in the unemployment rate by 0.1% to 4.9%. The rate has lingered near multi-year lows over the last several months.
More critically, analysts will keep a close eye on average hourly wages, which are expected to tick up by 0.3%, mirroring a considerable 0.3% uptick in March. Even as the U.S. economy has emerged from a prolonged recession, wages have remained stubbornly low since the Financial Crisis.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 9.32 or 0.05% to 17,660.58, bouncing back from sharp losses on Wednesday, as International Business Machines (NYSE:NYSE:IBM), Walt Disney Company (NYSE:NYSE:DIS) and The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:NYSE:TRV) provided a boost.
The NASDAQ Composite index lost 8.55 or 0.18% to 4,717.09, while the S&P 500 Composite index inched down 0.49 or 0.02% to 2,050.63, remaining flat for the year.
On the S&P 500, eight of 10 sectors closed in the red as stocks in the Telecommunications and Basic Materials industries lagged, each falling by more than 0.5%.