Asian Markets Mixed; NFP seen

Stock markets in Asia were mostly mixed in early trading hours on Friday, with market participants worried about the US implementing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union.

The Trump administration said tariffs on steel and aluminum imports would be applied to Canada, Mexico and the European Union and they become effective by Thursday midnight.

These countries were exempted from those tariffs since March. Canada and the EU said countermeasures would be soon in place.

Wall Street top three indexes settled in red territory on raising concerns about a trade war, with the Dow Jones industrial average falling 1.02 percent to 24,415.84.

The Nikkei 225 was down 0.17 percent and the broader Topix added 0.10 percent. In both cases, automakers and banks supported the indexes. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.66 percent.

Energy and financial components led decliners in Australia, weighing on the S&P/ASX 200, which eased 0.36 percent by the end of the session.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index were up 0.11 percent, while mainland Shanghai composite posted a 0.65 percent loss and the Shenzhen dropped 1.23 percent.

Markets in Indonesia were closed for a holiday.

On the data front, China’s Caixin manufacturing PMI for May came in at 51.1, falling short from an expected value of 51.3 points.

In other news, expectations about the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore continued to build. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted:

“The proposed summit offers a historic opening for [the President] and Chairman Kim to boldly lead US and DPRK into a new era of peace, prosperity, and security. Our countries face a pivotal moment in which it could be nothing short of tragic to let this opportunity go to waste.”

Economic calendar:

Europe: Germany and the EU will release their manufacturing PMI indexes for May at 07:55 GMT and 08:00 GMT respectively. The UK will also present this report at 08:30 GMT.

United States: the Labor Department will present its employment figures for May at 12:30 GMT, including nonfarm payrolls, the participation and unemployment rate and average hourly earnings. ISM manufacturing PMI for May is due at 14:00 GMT.

FortFS