Asian stocks edged up and the dollar rose to 1-1/2-month highs versus the yen on Friday ahead of the US non-farm payrolls report due later in the day.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.1 percent, taking cues from a modest bounce in Wall Street overnight.
Wall Street was marginally higher, underpinned by speculation the widely-anticipated labor market report on Friday would show US payrolls growth in February was far more than economist forecast.
The nonfarm payrolls report is expected to show 190,000 jobs were added in the US private and public sectors in February.
The employment figures are drawing particular interest as chances of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates several times this year could improve if the data underlines US economic strength.
Also of key concern to the broader risk asset markets were the developments in crude oil, which saw prices fall to more than three-month lows overnight as record US crude inventories fed doubts about the effectiveness of OPEC's recent deal to curb a global glut.
The dollar did not fare as well against the euro. The common currency gained the previous day after European Central Bank head Mario Draghi suggested it was less necessary to prop up the market through ultra-loose monetary policy.
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