MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged down about 0.36 percent at 0310 GMT, though it remained on track for a 0.7 percent weekly rise.

Japan's Nikkei .N225 added 0.5 percent, poised for a 0.6 percent weekly gain. The Shanghai Composite .SSEC pared earlier gains to climb 0.36 percent, putting it on track for a jump of 4.5 percent for the week.

Wall Street marked modest losses after a mixed spate of earnings, as investors awaited the non-farm payrolls report later this session.

"This is a big piece of data as to what the Fed is looking for," said Scott Colyer, chief executive officer of Advisors Asset Management in Monument, Colorado. "I think everybody wants them to move or not move. The month-to-month stuff is killing everybody."

On Thursday, U.S. interest rates futures implied traders saw a 58 percent probability of a rate increase in December, according to CME Group's FedWatch program, while U.S. two-year Treasury yields hit their highest levels in 4-1/2 years.

Economists expect the report to show that U.S. employers added 180,000 jobs in October, more than September's increase of 142,000 jobs.