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

Shares in Asia Pacific were mixed on Friday afternoon, after a second day of losses on Wall Street as investors continued to tackle recent comments by US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. At the same time, investors are waiting for non-farm US payrolls to be released later Friday in the United States.

The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was largely stable at the end of the morning session, as shares of the Chinese giant Tencent lost more than 0.7%.

In South Korea, the Kospi fell by 0.64%, while the heavyweight in the industry, Samsung Electronics, lost 1.09%.

The Australian ASX 200, on the other hand, was up 0.18%, with the sectors registering a slight increase.

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.

Another economist said salary figures are "extremely important".

"Any kind of rise" in payrolls is likely to "shake up" markets, Rob Carnell, chief economist and head of Asia Pacific research at ING, told CNBC's Squawk Box on Friday.

If we observe "substantial growth in wages", the possibility of a rate cut by the Fed will be taken "immediately," Carnell said.

The US dollar index, which compares the greenback to a basket of peers, was at 97.822 after rising from less than 97.6 yesterday.

The Japanese yen traded at 111.47 against a dollar after hitting lows above 111.6 in the previous session, while the Australian dollar changed hands at 0.6997 dollars after to have reached highs at 0.705 at the beginning of the week.

Oil prices fell in the morning of Asian trading hours, as the Brent crude futures fell by 0.35% to $ 70.50 a barrel and the US crude futures contract fell by 0.19%. % at 61.69 dollars a barrel.

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