Asian markets appear set to open with a firmer tone on Friday, shrugging off an overnight fall in US stocks as the US prepares to debate fresh economic stimulus to see the country through its coronavirus outbreak.

Australian S&P/ASX 200 futures were up 0.23 per cent in early trading. Japan's Nikkei 225 futures were up 0.24 per cent, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index futures had risen 0.74 per cent.

E-mini futures for the S&P 500 were up 0.2 per cent.

Attention is quickly turning to how the US might adopt further stimulus to help steer the world's largest economy through a worsening coronavirus pandemic.

Congress is set to begin debating such a package next week, as several states in the South and West implement fresh lockdown measures to curb cases. New data showed strong growth in US retail sales, but questions abound about whether that can continue.

“The sustainability of this rebound will be determined to a large degree by whether another fiscal deal is reached,” said ANZ bank analysts in a note.

Further complicating matters is an increasingly tense relationship between the US and China.

Now, the Trump administration is considering banning travel to the US by all members of the Chinese Communist Party, according to a person familiar with the matter.

In the US, that tension and difficulties reducing the spread of coronavirus weighed on markets. New data from the US Labour Department found 1.3 million people filed for jobless benefits, largely unchanged from the prior week. US retail sales jumped 7.5 per cent.

“What worries us about the US economy is initial jobless claims remained stuck at a high level of 1.3 million last week. In our view, the weak labour market will be a headwind to a further strong snap-back in the US economy,” wrote Commonwealth Bank of Austrialia in an analyst note.

Netflix Inc kicked off major tech earnings by forecasting it would add just 2.5 million new paid streaming customers in the third quarter, below the 5.3 million analysts predicted, sending shares tumbling in after-hours trading.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5 per cent, the S&P 500 lost 0.34 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.73 per cent.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe closed down 0.62 per cent.

Treasury yields fell and gold eased, though gold futures contracts remained above $1,800 an ounce. The 10-year Treasury note fell 1.2 basis points.

With stocks declining, the safe-haven US dollar rose modestly in a broader risk-off move. The US dollar index , which measures the currency against a basket of six rivals, was last up 0.31 per cent.

The Australian dollar rose 0.04 per cent versus the greenback at $0.697.

Oil prices fell 1 per cent on Thursday after OPEC+ agreed to ease record supply curbs and new infections of the novel coronavirus surged in the US. Brent fell 42 cents, or 1 per cent, to settle at $43.37 a barrel.

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