ASIA MARKETS: Hong Kong Stocks Fall Ahead Of U.S. Jobs Report

By Laura He, MarketWatch

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Hong Kong stocks closed lower Friday, as investors awaited the closely-watched U.S. jobs report due out later in the day.

The U.S. Labor Department was scheduled to release the employment report for August at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time on Friday, with economists on average estimating that

The Hang Seng Index edged down 0.2%, even as Sino-British banking giant HSBC Holdings PLC , which has a weighting of more than 14% in the benchmark index, rebounded 0.4% after losses the previous day. HSBC's weighting is due to shrink as the 15% limit on Hang Seng Index weightings is set to be lowered in five steps, starting after Friday's close.

Other top components on the benchmark also headed lower, with Tencent Holdings Ltd. down 0.9%, and China Mobile Ltd. off 0.3%.

Chinese train makers CSR Corp. % and China CNR Corp. resumed trading after a one-day suspension on Monday, with CSR saying in a statement that it couldn't confirm or comment on previous media reports about a possible merger between it and CNR, the two state-owned rail giants. CSR declined 0.6%, while China CNR rose 0.9%.

Other market movers included Macau casino operators Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. , falling 1.4%, SJM Holdings Ltd. , dropping 1.1%, and Sands China Ltd. , retreating 1%. Rival Melco Crown Entertainment improved by 1.3%.

In Japan, the Nikkei Average inched down 0.1%, while the yen (USDJPY) strengthened to Yen105.244 per dollar from Yen105.378 per dollar a day ago. The broader Topix index dropped 0.3%.

In other Asian markets, Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 ended 0.6% lower, while the Australian dollar (AUDUSD) moved up to 93.56 U.S. cents from 93.46 U.S. cents a day earlier.

Elsewhere, South Korea's Kospi Composite Index finished down 0.3%, while mainland China's Shanghai Composite Index settled 0.9% higher for its sixth straight gain.

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