Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Friday, following the mixed cues from global markets overnight, as traders largely cautious and refrained from making significant moves ahead of the release of the closely watched US monthly jobs data later in the day, which could affect the outlook for interest rates. Meanwhile, traders are optimistic over a Chinese demand recovery amid easing Covid curbs in China. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday.
The Australian stock market is notably lower on Friday, giving up some of the gains in the previous three sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling below the 7,300 level, following the mixed cues from global markets overnight, with losses in energy and financial stocks partially offset by gains in gold miners.
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Market Analysis
May 01, 2026 15:54 ET Central banks dominated the economics news flow this week with almost all major ones announcing their latest policy decisions and many boosted expectations for a rate hike in June. In other news, several countries released the preliminary data for first quarter economic growth. In the U.S., comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell were also in focus as his term ends this month.