Asian markets mixed at Friday's close ahead of US jobs data

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Major stock markets in Asia closed mixed on Friday ahead of the release of US jobs data, but they all ended the week with gains.

The Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, gained 33.8 points, or 0.86%, to close at around 3,978. It was up 12.94% for the week.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock exchange jumped by over 2%, or 584.6 points, to 29,128 after Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced that he would resign amid criticism over the COVID-19 pandemic handling. Nikkei 225 posted a weekly rise of 5.4% on Friday.

The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, fell 188.9 points, or 0.72%, to 25,902 at Friday's close, posting 1.94% gains this week.

China's Shanghai stock exchange was also on a low note, falling 15.3 points, or 0.43%, to 3,582 points, while it increased weekly by 1.69%.