Asian markets were lower on Friday as traders took a breather after healthy gains in the previous session while Chinese data showed growth in manufacturing activity had slowed.

Wall Street provided a meek lead, with the Dow ending lower after flirting with a record high as investors appeared to take in their stride looming deep US budget cuts due to take effect later in the day.

Tokyo eased 0.22 per cent, Hong Kong fell 0.29 per cent, Sydney was off 0.40 per cent and Shanghai was 0.13 per cent lower. Seoul was closed for a holiday.