BEIJING - Asian equities wobbled on Friday at the end of a draining week as fresh US jobs data put revived bets on two more Federal Reserve interest rate hikes, adding to ongoing worries about China's economy.
Investors have largely been on the back foot since Monday, when Beijing announced a big miss on second-quarter growth that indicated the post-Covid recovery had come to a juddering halt.
The uncertainty in Asia followed a sell-off in New York, where tech titans were hammered after earnings reports from Netflix and Tesla disappointed.
This week's stumble follows a rally last week when a faster-than-expected slowdown in US inflation stoked hopes the Fed could end its rate hikes after July's meeting while also avoiding a recession.
But confidence took a knock Thursday when fires showed a surprise drop in US jobless claims last week, suggesting the labour market remained resilient.
While data has recently pointed to a weakening in the US economy that would help ease inflation, the Fed has said it needed to see more softening in the jobs sector.
Markets fluctuated Friday in Asia.
Hong Kong, Seoul, Manila, Bangkok and Wellington edged up but Tokyo, Shanghai, Sydney, Mumbai, Singapore and Taipei all fell.
London opened higher but Frankfurt dipped.