Japan's Nikkei edged higher in choppy trade on Friday as investors kept to the sidelines before the release of a key U.S. jobs report, while oil and mining shares underperformed after oil prices fell on global growth concerns.
The Nikkei share average ended 0.2% higher to 21,746.38, after trading in and out of the red. For the week, the index rose 2.2% for its fifth consecutive weekly gains after a Sino-U.S. trade truce sparked hopes the two warring sides could make progress in long-drawn-out negotiations.
With U.S. markets closed for a national holiday on Thursday, trading remained thin.
Investors are waiting on the U.S. jobs report due out later in the day, which could determine if the Federal Reserve cuts rates later this month or delays such a move to its next meeting.
The ADP National Employment Report, which comes ahead of the more comprehensive monthly nonfarm payrolls data, showed U.S. private employers added 102,000 jobs in June, well below economists' expectations.
"Since the ADP number was bad, the market expects the jobs report to be sour, but investors would rather wait till next week to trade as jobs data can provide surprises at times," said Nobuhiko Kuramochi, a strategist at Mizuho Securities.
Exporters were mixed, with Advantest Corp rising 1.8%, Panasonic Corp falling 0.5% and Toyota Motor Corp was up 0.3%.
Mining and oil shares lost ground after crude oil prices fell on concerns over the outlook for global economic growth.
Inpex Corp dropped 1.4% and Idemitsu Kosan shed 0.3%.
The broader Topix gained 0.2% to 1,592.58.
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