Asian stocks tracked Wall Street losses Friday as investors weighed weak US jobs data against Federal Reserve signals suggesting no more interest rate cuts this year.

Growing worries that valuations, particularly among tech companies, are far too high following this year’s blockbuster rally added to the sense of unease on trading floors.

A rollercoaster week looked set to end on a negative note after a report by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas showed layoff US announcements hit the highest level in 22 years last month.

The report found that this year has been the worst for layoffs since 2020, when the labour market was decimated by the pandemic.

Investors have been forced to use private data as a guide to the state of the world’s biggest economy owing to the longest-runn

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