Asia-Pacific stocks set for muted start after mixed U.S. economic data

Asia-Pacific stocks set for muted start after mixed U.S. economic data

SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Friday morning trade as investors react to mixed U.S. economic data released overnight. The in Japan climbed 0.38% while the Topix index traded fractionally higher. South Korea's shed 0.22%. In Australia, the fell 0.38%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.13% lower. Investors will watch market moves in Hong Kong. The benchmark has dropped nearly 6% so far this week amid regulatory concerns surrounding sectors such as technology and casinos. Overnight stateside, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 63.07 points to 34,751.32 while the S&P 500 dipped around 0.16% to 4,473.75. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.13% to 15,181.92. The moves on Wall Street came after the Census Bureau reported Thursday that  increased 0.7% for the month against the Dow Jones estimate of a decline of 0.8%. The initial estimate for July, however, was revised down to a decline of nearly 2% from a month-over-month gain of 0.5%. Meanwhile, the latest unemployment insurance weekly data showed 332,000 first-time jobless claims last week, higher than the Dow Jones estimate of 320,000. Currencies and oil The , which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers was at 92.871 following