Asian, European Stocks Tumble Ahead Of U.S. Payroll Data, Fresh Round Of China Concerns

Global equities were mostly lower on Friday ahead of the U.S. payroll data.

Investors also found reports out of China that Inner Mongolia Nailun Group, a fertilizer producer, said it defaulted on its bond payments. As noted by Market Watch, the announcement further hurt the sentiment in the stock market.

"The market still suffers from low confidence and is susceptible to any negative news," Market Watch quoted Zhang Gang, an analyst at Central China Securities. "Investors are mostly concerned about contagion risk emanating from a series of bond defaults."

China's Shanghai index lost 2.82 percent and was one of the worst performing major indices in Asia. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 1.66 percent, Taiwain's TSEC index lost 0.26 percent, Japan's Nikkei index lost 0.25 percent and India's Mumbai Sensex index lost 0.13 percent.

Australia's ASX index gained 0.26 percent.

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European stocks were also mostly lower with more than four hours of trading remaining.

"As we tiptoe towards a crucial payrolls number, there is a feeling that today's release could be make or break, for indices, the U.S. dollar and the possibility of a June rate hike," Market Watch also quoted Josh Mahony, market analyst at IG, as saying in a note.

The broad Euro Stoxx 50 index was lower by 1.11 percent, France's CAC index was lower by 1.06 percent, the UK's index was lower by 0.99 percent and Germany's DAX was lower by 0.87 percent.

Oil prices were also trading lower Friday morning. Brent futures and WTI futures were both lower by around $0.25 each at $44.77 a barrel and $44.07 a barrel, respectively.