- Nikkei extends losses for fifth day, down 5.9% for the week
Asian markets were on the downside on Friday, closing mixed despite a positive finish on Wall Street overnight, as a newly weaker dollar brought fresh concerns ahead of the closely watched U.S. jobs report. The U.S. dollar basket has lost 3.2% since the close on Friday and 2.3% in just two days, with Wednesday being the worst single day in DXY in seven years.
The dollar index, where the dollar is weighted against a basket of currencies, was at 96.58.
Shanghai stocks, was slightly up by 0.2% while Australian shares dipped by 0.1%. Japan's Nikkei under performed, dropping 1.4% and headed for its fourth straight day of losses.
The biggest concern for the Japanese market now is whether the dollar will weaken against the yen further. You don't know how U.S. stocks will perform after the jobs data release, so most investors are nervous.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng bounce by 0.8% while other gainers included Malaysian and Singapore shares.
The euro were down 0.2% to $1.1188, trimming some of the gains from Thursday's surge. The common currency was headed for a 3.3% gain on the week, its biggest in more than four years.
The markets will look to the U.S. jobs data for direction, with the employment report expected to show employers adding 190,000 jobs in January.
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