Asian Stocks Mixed Ahead of US NFP Data as TD Sees Modest Recovery

The Asian stock markets showed mixed performance on Thursday as investors shifted their focus to the upcoming US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data for August. At press time, Nikkei225 was slightly down near 64,250, Shanghai traded 0.2% higher near 3,450, KOSPI jumped 0.3% to near 6,585, while Hang Seng declined 0.3% to near 25,230.

According to TD Securities, August payrolls are expected to show a modest recovery, with 'August NFP likely rebounded to 95k after declining 23k in July.' The bank also looks for labour market conditions to remain broadly steady, noting that 'we expect the UE rate to hold at 4.1%, with balanced risks.'

Meanwhile, New York Fed Bank President John Williams said on Wednesday that there is evidence 'inflation continues to ease as the impact of tariffs fades', but warned that higher energy prices have yet to spill over into other services.