A man walks past an electric market board in central Tokyo, Friday, Jan. 9, 2008. Japanese shares... 
(AP)The markets' pricing behavior over the coming months will depend on when the green shoots of recovery emerge, analysts say.
"There's still a tug of war in the markets between those who think the economy will recover in the second half of the year and those who think 2009 is a right-off, and that will dominate price action in the months ahead," said ECU Group's chief economist Neil Mackinnon.
Given the apprehension ahead of the data, Asian markets had closed lower.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock average fluctuated through the session, eventually ending 39.62 points lower, or 0.5 percent, at 8,836.80 by the close. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 38.47 points, or 0.3 percent, to 14,377.44, after rising earlier in the session amid what analysts said was speculation about central government aid for the power sector.
In South Korea, the Kospi shed 2.1 percent even as the country's central bank cut its key interest rate for the fifth time in three months to help shore up the country's sagging economy. Benchmarks in India, Taiwan and Singapore sank, but those in Shanghai and Australia advanced.
Oil prices fell moderately, with light, sweet crude for February delivery down $1.65 to $40.05 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract overnight fell 93 cents to settle at $41.70.
In currencies, the dollar fell 1.0 percent to 90.18 yen while the euro was down 1.5 percent at $1.3495.
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AP Business Writer Jeremiah Marquez in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
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