Asian shares and the dollar started the new quarter on a downbeat note on Friday as caution ruled ahead of surveys on global manufacturing and the latest reading on U.S. jobs.
Analysts anticipate little in the way of cheer on industry across Asia, with the Bank of Japan's Tankan already finding a darkening mood among major Japanese manufacturers.
Not helping sentiment was Standard & Poor's decision late on Thursday to cut China's credit outlook to negative, saying the government's reform agenda is on track but likely to proceed more slowly than expected.
While U.S. payrolls were expected to show a healthy increase of 205,000, any further strength might revive the risk of higher U.S. interest rates and so weigh on equities.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS duly slipped 0.5 percent, while the Nikkei .N225 lost 1.2 percent.
On Wall Street, the Dow .DJI ended Thursday 0.18 percent lower, while the S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.2 percent and the Nasdaq .IXIC edged up 0.01 percent.
It was a muted end to a wild quarter that saw stocks plunge on global growth fears only to rebound as major central banks took ever more aggressive stimulus steps.
Reference: Reuters
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