Asian shares trade mixed ahead of US jobs report

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were trading mixed Friday ahead of a closely watched U.S. jobs report that may affect global interest rates.

Weaker than expected earnings reports from U.S. technology companies, announced after Wall Street trading ended, pulled Chinese benchmarks lower.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.4% in afternoon trading to 27,501.03. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.6% to 7,558.10. South Korea's Kospi added 0.5% to 2,480.38. Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 1.7% to 21,591.74, while the Shanghai Composite dropped 1.0% to 3,252.19.

Economists expect the U.S. jobs report to show a slowdown in hiring. The job market has largely remained resilient despite big rate hikes by the Federal Reserve over the last year.

Big tech companies have announced high-profile layoffs recently, but a report on Thursday suggested job cuts are not that widespread. Fewer workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than expected, and the number dropped to its lowest level since April.

“The key risk event will be today’s U.S. jobs reports, where the pace of payroll additions is expected to cool again, while the unemployment rate is likely to have risen slightly,” said Anderson Alves at ActivTrades.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rallied 1.5% to 4,179.76 a day after hitting its best level since August. The Nasdaq composite soared 3.3% to 12,200.82, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged because it has less of an emphasis on tech. It slipped 0.1% to 34,053.94.

Meta helped lead the way with a 23.3% leap after it reported better revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected and said it expects to spend less this year than earlier forecast. Its profit fell short of expectations but Facebook's parent also announced a program to buy back $40 billion of its...