Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed on Friday as investors awaited the release of a closely watched U.S. jobs report.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 hiked 91.92 points, or 0.3%, to 27,820.04.
The Japanese yen traded at 109.74 per U.S. dollar, weaker than levels below 109.2 seen against the greenback earlier this week.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng dropped 25.29 points, or 0.1%, to 26,179.40,
Shares of South Korea’s Kakao Bank surged in their Friday debut, rising nearly 80% from the issue price.
Investors looked ahead to the closely watched July U.S. jobs report set to be released Friday morning stateside, with a wide range of estimates from economists about what the report will show.
The Australian dollar was at $0.7391, against an earlier high of $0.7407.
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 fell 27.1 points, or 0.6%, to 4,921.57
The Kospi index in Korea docked 5.77 points, or 0.2%, to 3,270.36.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index subtracted 76.04 points, or 0.4%, to 17,526.28
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index eked ahead 2.08 points, or 0.1%, to 3,177.18.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 recovered 15.67 points, or 0.1%, to 12,770.
In Australia, the ASX 200 advanced 27.27 points, or 0.4%, to 7,538.42
