The Fed, US employment data and Forex currencies in the foreground

Shares in Asia-Pacific fell on Friday, after a second day of losses on Wall Street as investors continued to tackle recent comments by US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

In South Korea, Kospi fell 0.11% at the start of trading, while the heavyweight in the industry, Samsung Electronics, fell 0.33%.

In Australia, the ASX 200 fell 0.18%, sectors being the subject of mixed transactions.

Markets in Japan and China are closed for holidays.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 122.35 points to 26,307.79 points. The S & P 500 declined approximately 0.21% to close at 2,917.52, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.16% to end at 8,036.77.

Powell, of the Fed, said Wednesday that the recent low inflationary pressures could only be "transitory", hinting that a rate cut might not be on the horizon, which has disappointed the traders. Powell's comments caused a sudden sell in the previous session, with the Dow closing down more than 150 points.

The Fed's comments follow the central bank's decision to leave rates unchanged, citing low inflation. Prior to the meeting, US President Donald Trump had asked the central bank to cut rates and increase stimulus.

At the same time, investors are also keeping an eye on US employment data for the month of April, with non-farm payroll to be released later Friday in the United States.

"We are expecting tonight's payroll to show continued high growth rates ($ 190,000), but there will be more of an eye on what the average growth report says." profits that should grow by 0.1%, "said David de Garis, a director and senior economist at the National Australia Bank, wrote in a morning note.

The US dollar index, which compares the greenback to a basket of peers, stood at 97,828, after rising from less than 97.6 yesterday.

The Japanese yen traded at 111.44 against the dollar after hitting lows above 111.6 in the previous session, while the Australian dollar changed hands to 0.6994 dollar after to have peaked at over $ 0.705 earlier in the week.

Oil prices fell in the morning trading hours in Asia as the Brent crude futures contract fell 0.27% to $ 70.56 per barrel and US futures contracts dropped 0 1% to 61.75 dollars a barrel.

– Fred Imbert and Yun Li of CNBC contributed to this report.