Asia-Pacific stocks were mixed on Friday as investors looked ahead to a closely-watched U.S. jobs report set to be released later.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 jumped 76.24 points, or 0.3%, Friday to 28,783.28
The Japanese yen traded at 111.46 per U.S. dollar, still weaker than levels below 110.8 seen against the greenback earlier in the week.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng staggered 517.53 points, or 1.8%, to 28,310.42.
Investor focus on Friday was likely on the U.S. Labor Department’s monthly jobs report, set to be out on Friday. Economists expect nonfarm payrolls grew by 706,000 jobs in June and the unemployment rate fell to 5.6% from 5.8%, according to Dow Jones.
The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7457 following its slip from above $0.755 earlier in the trading week.
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 slumped 148.54 points, or 2.8%, to 5,081.12.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index eked up 4.7 points, or 0.2% to 3,128.95
The Kospi index in Korea docked 0.28 points to 3,281.78.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index slipped 3.79 points to 17,710.15
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 moved higher 28.21 points, or 0.2%, to 12,711.84
In Australia, the ASX 200 hiked 42.98 points, or 0.6%, to 7,308.55
