Asian stocks in red ahead of non farm job results, Gold finds support around $1230

All the major Asian markets are trading in red as market await NFP job results. In addition, Gold remains supported around $1230 mark. Japanese Yen continues to add strength against US dollar despite lower than expected Tankan manufacturing index.

The Bank of Japan Tankan manufacturing index of large-scale factories fell from 12 in the December quarter to 6 in the March quarter. In addition, Tankan Non manufacturing index also released with negative numbers at 22 q/q vs 25 q/q previous released.

On the other side, Chinese Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index rose from 49.0 in February to nine-month high of 50.2 in March. In addition, China’s Caixin manufacturing PMI for March came in at 49.7, better than the level of 48.3 expected and 48.0 for the final in February.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index slid 2.81% to 16,287.42 points, while the broader Topix index was down 2.77% at 1,309.87 points.

Chinese markets were also on a losing streak, with the Shanghai Composite index falling 0.66% to 2,984.08 points and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index sliding 0.84% to 20,601.71 points.

South Korea’s Kospi was trading 0.67% lower at 1,982.35 points.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 equity index was trading 1.67% lower to 4,998.00 points on Friday afternoon in Sydney.

New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 index slipped 0.33% to 6,729.86 points with around half an hour left of trade.