Asia markets look lower

Futures points to a weak open for Asian shares Friday after Wall Street ended mixed, as investors await closely watched April non-farm payroll numbers.

The payrolls number will likely influence expectations of whether the Federal Reserve will pull the trigger in June.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of Australia will issue a statement on its surprise monetary policy decision on Wednesday to cut rates by 25 basis points.

Australia's SPI futures were 0.9 percent lower than the S&P/ASX 200 's last close at 5,279.07.

Nikkei futures in Chicago were unchanged at 16,090, while Osaka futures were down 0.2 percent at 16,110 early on Thursday; the Japanese benchmark index last finished at 16,147.38 on Monday and has been closed for the past three days for public holidays.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, rose for a third consecutive day and at this point the greenback's moves could be key for the direction of markets.

The two decisive factors that could cause an equity market sell-off would be a sustained rally in the U.S. dollar and a sell-off in oil prices, both of which have usually induced weakness in equities of late.

Markets in South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand will be shut for public holidays.