If the ASX opens higher, as futures are suggesting, then the local market will be shrugging off a steep drop in the iron ore price as well as a soft lead from Wall Street.

The spot price of iron ore shed nearly 7 per cent, or $US5.47, to $US75.45 a tonne on Friday. That compares with a February 21 close of $US94.86, the highest since 2014—a 20.5 per cent drop.

Wall Street's three major indexes edged lower on Friday in a choppy session as investors grappled with a weaker-than-expected job report, the US airstrike in Syria and a top Federal Reserve official's comments on trimming the US central bank's balance sheet.

Investors were trying to work out how the developments would affect US President Donald Trump's ability to proceed with his pro-business agenda.

"You had so many confusing things happening today. The employment number was certainly surprising. The US airstrike was surprising. People were trying to figure out what that meant," said Rick Meckler, president of investment firm LibertyView Capital Management.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 6.85 points, or 0.03 per cent, at 20,656.1, the S&P 500 lost 1.95 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 2,355.54 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.14 points, or 0.02 per cent, to 5,877.81.

All three indexes ended slightly lower for the week. Six of the S&P's 11 major sectors ended down on the day.

US employers added about 98,000 jobs in March, the fewest since last May and well below economists' expectation of 180,000, as bad weather hit construction hiring. However, wage growth edged up and unemployment fell.

New York Fed President William Dudley on Friday shed more light on the US central bank's developing plan for when to stop replacing bonds that expire in its portfolio, how to execute it, and how far it would ultimately shrink its balance sheet.

US Treasury yields rose after Dudley's remarks, which helped push equities lower, according to Paul Zemsky, chief investment officer, Multi-Asset Strategies and Solutions, at Voya Investment Management.

LibertyView's Meckler said Dudley's remarks were not earth-shattering but "small statements are having a magnified affect because investors are worried."

The United States, in a pre-dawn strike, fired missiles at an airfield from which it said a deadly poison gas attack was launched this week.

In the coming days it "will be interesting to watch to see if (Syria) does grab more attention from the White House and delay some of these other issues and programs they are trying to get passed through here," said Sean Lynch, co-head of global equity strategy at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, said.