Stocks in Asia traded higher on Friday in a muted session as most markets are closed for a holiday in the wider Asia-Pacific region.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan traded up 0.17% to close at 27,518 and the Topix gained 0.21% to close at 1,965.44. In South Korea, the Kospi gained 1.27% to 2,490.41 and the Kosdaq rose 1.67% to end the session at 880.07.
In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite was 0.45% higher to 3,327.65 and the Shenzhen Component rose 0.86% to 11,967.74. Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and India were closed.
Investors will look ahead to the U.S. non-farm payrolls report on Friday, which will help determine the path ahead for the Federal Reserve. It follows this week’s ADP report which showed U.S. private payrolls grew less than expected in March.
A Labor Department report this week also showed the number of available positions fell below 10 million in February for the first time in nearly two years. Job cuts have also soared nearly fivefold so far this year from a year ago.
On Wall Street, stocks ended Thursday higher, buoyed by technology with the Nasdaq Composite up 0.76% as Google-parent Alphabet and Microsoft jumped. The S&P 500 rose 0.36% after paring earlier losses, suffering its first down week in four while the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up.
— CNBC