Asian stocks traded higher on Monday, tracking gains seen on Wall Street after Friday’s expectation-topping U. S. jobs report.
Asian stocks traded higher on Monday, tracking gains seen on Wall Street after Friday’s expectation-topping U. S. jobs report and shrugging off trade-related concerns.
The Nikkei 225 made convincing gains, with the benchmark advancing 1.36 percent as most sectors rose. Automakers and shippers were among the best-performing sectors in the morning, with the broader Topix climbing 1.53 percent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, meanwhile, jumped 1.32 percent as technology and financial shares led the move higher.
Gains elsewhere in the region were moderate, with the Kospi edging higher by 0.52 percent in Seoul and the S&P/ASX 200 tacking on 0.71 percent in Sydney. The Shanghai composite edged up by 0.7 percent and the smaller Shenzhen composite tacked on 0.41 percent.
MSCI’s broad index of shares in Asia Pacific excluding Japan, meanwhile, was higher by 1.03 percent in Asia morning trade.
Markets in New Zealand were closed on Monday.
The advance seen in the region came after Wall Street closed higher on Friday on the release of better-than-expected jobs numbers, with the Dow Jones industrial average rising 0.9 percent, or 219.37 points, to close at 24,635.21.
The U. S. economy added 223,000 jobs last month, topping a forecast of 188,000 in a Reuters poll. The unemployment rate dropped to 3.8 percent, its lowest since April 2000.
Despite the positive mood, trade concerns continued to linger after U. S.-China trade talks yielded no major breakthroughs. China threatened that previous trade agreements negotiated by the countries « will not take effect » if the Trump administration goes ahead with a planned tariff increase.
U. S. allies also took aim during a G-7 finance leaders meeting at metals tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.
The « flip flop stance » taken by the Trump administration may give the U. S. an advantage in trade negotiations in the near term, but will force China to adopt a tougher approach in the medium term, said Tommy Xie, head of greater China research at OCBC Bank, in a note.
« Market will continue to watch out for how President Trump wants to play his unpredictability card, which will be the new normal for global diplomatic relationships, » Xie added.
The greenback held onto gains made on the back of Friday’s robust jobs report. Against the yen, the dollar traded at 109.58 at 9:46 a.m. HK/SIN.
The dollar index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of rival currencies, stood at 94.046.
On the energy front, U. S. crude futures were added 0.14 percent to trade at $65.90 per barrel. Brent crude futures edged down 0.12 percent to $76.70. Oil had come under pressure in the last session on the back of the firmer dollar.
In corporate news, PC maker Lenovo’s removal from Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index took effect on Monday. CSPC Pharmaceutical Group, a Chinese drugmaker, replaced the computer maker as part of the index.
