HTHIY Hitachi Ltd (PK)

Japanese and Australian shares drifted lower early Friday, as investors look to a coming jobs report in the U.S. for clues about when the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates.

Japan's Nikkei 225 is 0.4% lower at 17655.18 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 is down 0.2% at 5099.80, following a mixed performance overnight in U.S. markets.

The losses indicate continued caution among investors in markets more broadly, after slowing growth in China and market volatility shook stocks globally and made the three months to the end of September the worst quarter for many markets in years.

In Japan, SoftBank Group Corp. fell 0.8% and Hitachi Ltd. was 2% lower. Among Australian stocks, Rio Tinto Ltd. is 1.9% lower.

In currency markets, the Japanese yen was little changed against the U.S. dollar, trading at ¥ 119.86 to the dollar compared with ¥ 119.92 at the close of U.S. markets. The Australian dollar weakened 0.2% from its previous close, while Malaysia's ringgit lost 0.5%.

With uncertainty about the health of the global economy, many investors are watching closely for improvement in economic indicators, particularly from the U.S., which is expected to announce monthly jobs data late Friday. A brighter jobs picture could offer Fed officials reason to raise short-term interest rates later this year.

In Asia, better-than-expected Chinese manufacturing data on Thursday offered some relief from the string of disappointing readings in recent weeks. In Australia, retail sales data for August is expected mid-morning local time; most economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expect an improvement on July's data.

But analysts remain cautious about looking too much into any short-term positive data. "Our global economists believe that near-term global recession risks are higher than usual, with a 25% chance of a recession-like slump this year," Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a note.

In commodity markets, Brent crude prices rose 0.9% early Friday, to US$48.10 a barrel.

Chinese markets remain closed Friday for a national holiday celebration. Indian markets are also closed.

Write to Jake Maxwell Watts at jake.watts@wsj.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 01, 2015 22:05 ET (02:05 GMT)

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