Investing.com - Asia shares were mostly weaker on Friday with China bucking the trend as investors look ahead to a meeting of top finance officials from the world's leading economies at the weekend in Italy.
The Nikkei 225 eased 0.63%, while South Korea's Kospi edged down 0.54%. Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 1%.
The Shanghai Composite was up 0.39%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index traded up 0.07%.
Retail stocks in Asia were mixed following softer lead from U.S. retailers in the previous session, with South Korea's Lotte Shopping up by 2.73% but Australian retailers mostly trading lower. Myer shares were down 2.55% and Harvey Norman was down 2.8%.
In Singapore, shares commodity trader Noble Group tumbled 20%t after the company reported sharp losses for the first quarter.
DBS Research maintained its "hold" call on the company, adding that questions about Noble's ability "secure sufficient liquidity" from banks remained.
Overnight, U.S. stocks closed lower on Thursday, led by a slumped in retail stocks, after Macy's (NYSE:M) posted disappointed quarterly results while shares of Snap fell 21%.
The main three U.S. indexes ended the day in negative, after Macy’s weaker than expected quarterly report renewed fears of a slowdown in the retail sector, and offset upbeat economic data after producer inflation and initial jobless claims data failed to lift sentiment.
The U.S. Labor Department said its producer price index, which measures inflation before it reaches the consumer, rose 0.5% in April, above expectations for a 0.2% increase.
In a separate report, the Labor Department reported that initial jobless claims decreased by 2,000 to 236,000 in the week ended May 6, below economists’ estimates.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average at 20,919.42, up 0.11%. The S&P 500 lost 0.19% while the Nasdaq Composite closed at 6115.96, down 0.22%.