Asian markets climb on momentum from upbeat US jobs report

A weaker yen enhances the overseas earnings of manufacturers when they are brought back to Japan. (Photo by energepic.com,pixels, CC0)

TOKYO— Shares rose Monday in Asia after last week’s report of strong gains in U.S. payrolls. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index climbed 0.5 per cent to 20,055.89 as the yen slipped slightly against the U.S. dollar. A weaker yen enhances the overseas earnings of manufacturers when they are brought back to Japan.

KEEPING SCORE: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 0.5 per cent to 27,697.34 and South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.2 per cent at 2,400.76. The S&P ASX 200 in Australia rose 0.9 per cent to 5,773.60, while the Shanghai Composite index reversed earlier losses to climb 0.3 per cent to 3,272.96. India’s Sensex was flat at 32,338.55. Taiwan’s benchmark jumped 0.7 per cent, and shares in Southeast Asia were mixed.

WALL STREET LAST WEEK: Banks, technology companies and other stocks climbed Friday after the Department of Labor said U.S. employers added 209,000 jobs in July. Investors sold government bonds and bet that interest rates are going to rise, which lets banks make more money on loans. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 0.2 per cent to 2,476.83. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.3 per cent to 22,092.81, its ninth gain in a row. The Nasdaq composite climbed 0.2 per cent to 6,351.56 and the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies gained 0.5 per cent to 1,412.32.

ANALYST VIEWPOINT: “The U.S. equity market and currency inched up hand-in-hand on positive jobs data last Friday, helping up global markets. Asian bourses are expected to play catch-up at the start of a packed trading week while keeping a keen eye on the flurry of events and data releases,” Jingyi Pan of IG said in a commentary.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude shed 16 cents to $49.42 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It added 55 cents, or 1.1 per cent, to $49.58 per barrel on Friday. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 16 cents, to $52.26 a barrel.

CURRENCIES: The U.S. dollar was flat at 110.67 yen after trading near 111 yen on Friday. The euro climbed to $1.1792 from $1.1774.