Asian shares, US futures sink ahead of US jobs report

Market Overview - Shares in Asia and U.S. futures have declined ahead of the U.S. employment and inflation reports that may influence interest rates [1] - Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell by 1.6% to 49,383.29 due to preliminary factory data indicating a slight slowdown in manufacturing [2] - Chinese markets retreated as November retail sales grew at the slowest rate since 2022, increasing by only 1.3% year-over-year [3] Regional Indices Performance - Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 1.6% to 25,211.24, while the Shanghai Composite index lost 1.1% to 3,825.71 [4] - South Korea's Kospi decreased by 2.2% to 3,000.13, with technology shares, including SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, experiencing significant declines [4] - Taiwan's Taiex fell by 1.1%, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 declined by 0.4% to 8,598.90 [4] Company-Specific News - iRobot's shares plummeted by 9.3% in after-hours trading following its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, adding to a nearly 73% decline on the previous day [5] - The S&P 500 index slipped by 0.2%, with mixed performance among AI-related stocks; Nvidia rose by 0.7%, while Oracle and Broadcom saw declines of 2.7% and 5.6%, respectively [6][7] Economic Indicators - Economists anticipate that the November jobs report will show an addition of 40,000 jobs, with an unemployment rate expected to remain at 4.4% [7][8] - Inflation data is projected to indicate a 3.1% increase in consumer prices year-over-year for November [7][8]