Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders continue to be cautious amid ongoing uncertainty over trade deals between the U.S. and its trade partner countries as well as the threat of heavy tariffs. Meanwhile, the stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report helped ease investor concerns about a potential economic slowdown. Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday.
Though traders reacted positively to the U.S. jobs data, it is likely to reduce the chances of a near-term interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve.
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Business News
May 15, 2026 15:25 ET Apart from the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair, the main news on the economics front this week included key price data from the U.S. and the first quarter economic growth figures from major economies. Both consumer prices and producer costs have started to reflect the effect of supply shocks due to the Middle East conflict. In Europe, GDP data was in focus, while inflation data from China dominated the news flow in Asia.