In Asian Equity Markets the Nikkei 225 fell by 0.96 percent. U.S. President Donald Trump had hinted to columnist James Freeman that Japan could be next in the trade cross hairs of America, according to a Wall Street Journal article. South Korea’s Kospi saw a recovery from its earlier losses but still traded down by 0.15 percent, with chip-maker SK Hynix down by 4.19 percent following the recent sell-off in U.S. tech stocks. Down Under, the ASX 200 continued the downward trend by sliding 0.73 percent. Meanwhile the Shanghai composite was also up by 1.13 percent while the Shenzhen composite saw gains of 1.27 percent.

In Currency Markets the US dollar eased against the yen on Friday after a report suggested that Japan would be the next country with which U.S. President Donald Trump will take up trade issues. The U.S. currency held in relatively tight ranges against other major peers such as the euro and pound, with the market bracing for the highly anticipated U.S. jobs report due later in the session. The euro was down 0.2 percent at 128.39 yen and the pound had shed 0.2 percent to 142.88 yen. Against the greenback, the Aussie was down 0.5 percent at $0.7163, edging back towards a two-year low of $0.7145 plumbed on Wednesday.

In Commodities Markets oil prices were stable on Friday, as the market balanced a fall in U.S. crude inventories to the lowest levels since 2015, with Sino-American trade tensions and economic weakness from emerging markets. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $67.79 per barrel, up just 2 cents from their last settlement. International Brent crude futures dipped 4 cents to $76.46 a barrel. U.S. commercial crude oil inventories fell by 4.3 million barrels to 401.49 million barrels in the week to Aug. 31, the lowest since February 2015.

In US Equity Markets the tech-heavy Nasdaq saw sharp declines on Thursday as internet stocks faltered for a second day on concerns about increased regulation, while a warning from KLA Tencor led a slide in chip stocks. Chip-maker Micron fell 9 percent after Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner said prices of NAND chips declined in the third quarter and at least two brokerages said the markets for NAND and DRAM chips were worsening. The S&P 500 was down 0.54 percent, at 2,872.86 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 1.04 percent, at 7,911.98.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields fell on Thursday on safety buying as stocks dropped and as investors saw recent weakness in bonds driven by heavy corporate issuance as an opportunity to add positions at higher yields. Benchmark 10-year notes rose 8/32 in price to yield 2.873 percent, down from 2.902 percent on Wednesday. The U.S. Treasury said on Thursday that it will sell $73 billion in notes and bonds next week including $35 billion in three-year notes, $23 billion in 10-year notes and $15 billion in 30-year bonds.