Asian stock markets fall ahead of US employment update

BEIJING (AP) — Asian shares followed Wall Street lower Friday ahead of U.S. jobs data investors hope will persuade the Federal Reserve to ease off plans for more interest rate hikes.

Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul and Sydney retreated. Chinese markets were closed for a holiday. Oil prices declined.

Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index fell 1% on Thursday after a private sector report said U.S. employers hired slightly more workers than forecast in September. That gives ammunition to Fed officials who say more rate hikes are needed to cool the economy and rein in inflation that is at a four-decade high.

U.S. government data due out Friday are expected to show fewer people were hired compared with previous months. Investors hope that will help persuade the Fed five rate hikes this year are working and it can scale down plans for more.

“What the market seems to be crying out for is a Fed pivot,” said Robert Carnell of ING in a report. “For its part, the Fed is sticking to its ‘higher for longer’ mantra.”

The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo sank 0.7% to 27,116.11 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng tumbled 1.3% to 17,780.81.

The Kospi in Seoul shed 0.2% to 2,232.84 while Sydney's S&P ASX 200 lost 0.8% to 6,762.80.

India's Sensex opened down 0.6% at 57,900.92. New Zealand and Southeast Asian markets declined.

The Fed and central banks around the world are focused on extinguishing inflation that is running at multi-decade highs, but investors worry their unusually large and rapid pace of rate hikes might tip the global economy into recession.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell to 3,744.52. The index is up 4.4% for the week following its best two-day rally in 2 1/2 years.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.1% to 29,926.94. The Nasdaq composite slid 0.7% to 11,073.31.

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