HONG KONG: Asian investors struggled Friday to maintain the week's positive momentum as they eyed sharp losses on Wall Street that came after forecast-beating jobs data that suggested the Federal Reserve (Fed) will have to keep lifting interest rates. Regional markets have enjoyed a strong start to the year, largely thanks to optimism over China's reopening and signs it is toning down its tough talk on a number of issues domestically and geopolitically. Thursday's data make the release of a key non-farm payrolls report later in the day much more important. Asian markets fluctuated after all three main indexes on Wall Street fell more than 1 percent. Both main contracts rose Friday but they are both down almost 10 percent on the week.
