The Asian stock markets figure to open firmly in the red on Monday following disappointing economic news from the United States as employment data was well shy of forecasts.
The Labor Department reported that employment increased by 115,000 jobs in April compared to expectations for an increase of about 165,000 jobs. The unemployment rate edged down to 8.1 percent in April from 8.2 percent in March, although the drop was due to a decrease in the size of the labor force.
The news was also grim in Europe as Eurozone private sector activity declined in April at the fastest rate since October 2011. In addition, Germany's services sector grew less than expected in April, and the French service sector contracted in April.
Adding to the uncertainty, Francois Hollande was crowned the new President of France beating Nicholas Sarkozy.
The major U.S. averages finished firmly in the red on Friday as the Dow slid 168.32 points or 1.3 percent to finish at 13,038.27, while the NASDAQ plunged 67.96 points or 2.3 percent to end at 2,956.34 and the S&P 500 fell 22.47 points or 1.6 percent to 1,369.10.
The major European markets also ended lower on Friday. The DAX of Germany dropped by 1.99 percent and the CAC 40 of France closed lower by 1.90 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. fell by 1.93 percent and the SMI of Switzerland lost 0.67 percent.
The Asian markets were mostly lower on Friday as Thailand plummeted 1.02 percent, while Australia retreated 0.8 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.77 percent, Singapore's Straits Times lost 0.34 percent, South Korea's KOSPI retreated 0.3 percent and Indonesia eased 0.2 percent.
Taiwan jumped 0.54 percent, while Malaysia collected 0.50 percent and China's Shanghai composite added 0.49 percent. Japan was closed on Thursday and Friday and re-open Monday.
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