On Friday, U.S. employment figures fell short of expectations that may mean world stock markets will fall next week and safe-haven government debt prices may rally.

After U.S. payrolls grew by 120,000 in March, far below the expected gain of 203,000 jobs, U.S. stock futures fell more than 1 percent and Treasuries prices rallied.

"I think the market will grind higher, but it will be at a much slower pace," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank. "Earnings and jobs aren't helping."

The demand for equities was undermined by signals that central bankers are not likely to inject more of stimulus.

Asian investors were fettered from taking fresh positions at the end of the week due to a slew of data due next week from China. "The data from China will be the key measuring stick on how confidence will hold up," said Yoon So-jung, an analyst at Shinyoung Securities.

The weak U.S. payrolls report for March may help stocks and hurt the dollar. "The question for the dollar is whether this is as viewed as an outlier in an otherwise improving trend in labor markets or if it's viewed as enough to revive talk of another round of Fed policy easing," said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington D.C.