Office workers cross the street during lunch time near Tokyo Station on October 20, 2022.
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Asia-Pacific markets were mostly lower on Friday as investors awaited a key U.S. jobs report and digested household spending data from Japan.
Japanese household spending data It fell 0.1% annually in July, while economists polled by Reuters expected growth of 1.2%, a reversal from a 1.4% decline in June.
Data from the country’s Statistics Office showed that average monthly household expenditure was 290,931 yen ($2,031.35) in July 2024, a nominal increase of 3.3% from the previous year.
The average monthly household income in July was 694,483 yen, with a nominal increase of 8.9% and a real increase of 5.5%.
The weak spending report may limit the Bank of Japan’s options for raising interest rates, although this may be offset by strong wage growth data on Thursday.
Japanese Nikkei 225 Index The day opened slightly below the flat line. After the data was released, the Topix Index generally fell 0.42%.
Korean Cospi It fell 0.8%, with the small-cap Kosdaq down 1.41%.
In comparison, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.14%.
Hong Kong Hang Seng Index futures were at 17,431 points, lower than the Hang Seng Index’s last closing point of 17,444.3 points.
Mainland China’s CSI 300 futures were at 3,254 points, slightly lower than the previous trading day’s closing point of 3,257.76 points.
All three major U.S. stock indexes fell overnight as investors sold risk assets and concerns about the U.S. economic outlook grew.
The S&P 500 fell 0.3%, its third straight day of losses, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.54%. The Nasdaq rose 0.25% after rising 1.2% earlier in the session.
—CNBC’s Samantha Subin and Jesse Pound contributed to this report.
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