Asian stocks poised to end week lower due to falling oil prices as investors eye US jobs report

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A woman walks past an electronic board showing the Hong Kong share index outside a local bank in Hong Kong, Tuesday, April 18, 2017. Asian stocks were seen ending the week lower with the US jobs data due out later on Friday. Photo: AP

Published: 7:15am, 5 May 2017Updated: 7:16am, 5 May 2017

Asian equities looked set to end the trading week lower as a plunge in crude oil weighed on energy producers and investors awaited the US employment report.

West Texas Intermediate crude tumbled almost 5 per cent, plunging below US$46 a barrel and dragging the Bloomberg Commodities Index to an eight-month low. Stock-index futures in Hong Kong and Australia retreated. Japan and South Korea are closed for a holiday.

Investors are weighing whether the American economy picked up after a sluggish start to the year. Crude’s latest slide rekindled concern that global growth remains limp even as corporate earnings exceed expectations. Claims for US unemployment benefits, already at multi-decade lows, fell in the latest week, another signal of a solid labour market ahead of Friday’s US jobs report for April.

A businessman looks at an electronic share indicator at a securities company in Tokyo. Asian stocks are tipped to finish lower this treading week with investor looking forward to the US jobs report due out later on Friday. Photo: AFP

The Reserve Bank of Australia releases its quarterly economic update Friday, just days after keeping policy on hold and signalling it’s in no rush to raise rates.

Economists forecast the US added 190,000 jobs last month as the government reports hiring data at 8:30 am in New York (8:30 pm HKT).