Asian markets mixed after Wall St gains on jobs data

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets were mixed Friday after Wall Street rose as investors analyzed conflicting economic signals ahead of a Federal Reserve conference next week.

Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul declined while Hong Kong advanced. Oil prices edged lower but stayed above $90 per barrel.

Wall Street rebounded after corporate results and fewer unemployment claims than expected suggested the U.S. economy has pockets of resiliency despite repeated interest rate hikes.

Investors worry the Fed and central banks in Europe and Asia might derail global economic growth as they hike rates to cool inflation that is running at multi-decade highs.

The latest U.S. data “might keep the door open for aggressive Fed tightening,” said Edward Moya of Oanda in a report.

The Shanghai Composite Index lost less than 0.1% to 3,274.59 and the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo shed less than 0.1% to 28,927.32. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 0.4% to 19,838.10.

The Kospi in Seoul shed 0.5% to 2,495.03 while Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 lost less than 0.1% to 7,110.40.

India's Sensex opened down less than 0.1% at 60,258.81. New Zealand, Bangkok and Singapore retreated while Jakarta gained.

Investors looked ahead to the Fed's annual Jackson Hole conference in Wyoming next week for indications of when and how much the U.S. central bank might raise rates.

Minutes on the Fed's July meeting released this week said inflation still is too high and made clear the central bank will keep raising interest rates.

The Fed has raised interest rates twice this year by 0.75 percentage points, triple its usual margin. Forecasters expect a hike at the board's September meeting, but say pressure for a similarly large increase has declined as economic growth cooled.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 0.2% to 4,283.74 after...