Asian shares slip, dragged lower by Wall Street tech fall

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares mostly slipped Friday, dragged lower by a decline in technology stocks on Wall Street.

Benchmarks fell in Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong but rose in Sydney.

Traders are awaiting the U.S. government’s latest monthly jobs report, expected later Friday. Unemployment data announced Thursday was encouraging.

But while an improved jobs market suggests the economy is gaining momentum after the pandemic, investors are keeping a close eye on signs of inflation, which especially hurts the tech sector. The benchmark S&P 500 index dropped 0.4% on Thursday and is on track for a 0.3% weekly loss.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 0.4% to 28,937.79. South Korea's Kospi lost 0.3% to 3,238.40, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5% to 7,295.40. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.3% to 28,873.65 and the Shanghai Composite edged 0.1% lower, to 3,581.55.

“Asian markets will likely be in a holding pattern on Friday,” Prakash Sakpal and Nicholas Mapa, senior economists at ING, said in a report.

"More importantly, investors will await the US non-farm payrolls report out later tonight."

On Thursday, technology companies, whose pricey valuations make them more sensitive to inflation fears, were the biggest weight on the market.

The S&P 500 fell 15.27 points to 4,192.85. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.1% to 34,577.04. The tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1% to 13,614.51. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies gave up 0.8% to 2,279.25.

Microsoft fell 0.6% and Apple lost 1.2%.

Retailers, hotel operators and a variety of other companies that rely on direct consumer spending also posted some of the biggest declines, as did communications companies. Etsy slid 5.4%, Tesla dropped 5.3%, Wynn Resorts fell 4.1% and Facebook lost 0.9%. Banks and health...