Asian markets and dollar climb after US jobs data

Hong Kong: Asian markets rose Monday, with the greenback also climbing, after a report showing modest gains in US job creation eased concerns the Federal Reserve will soon start to roll back its huge monetary easing scheme.

However, buying sentiment was tempered by more relatively weak trade data out of China that adds to concerns of a slowdown in the world’s number two economy.

Tokyo rallied 4.94 per cent, surging 636.67 points to 13,514.20 as the dollar clawed back some of last week’s losses against the yen. Seoul added 0.46 per cent, or 8.85 points, to close at 1,932.70.

In the afternoon Hong Kong was up 0.29 per cent as Shanghai and Sydney were closed for public holidays.

On Friday the Labour Department said 175,000 jobs were generated in May, better than expected but still only at the same pace of the past year.

Kenji Shiomura, strategist at Daiwa Securities, said the figures “reduced concerns over the Fed’s reeling in its bond-buying programme soon”.

Global markets had been in flux for the past week as dealers bet that the Fed would pull the plug on the scheme, known as quantitative easing.

The news boosted the dollar. In morning Tokyo trade the greenback stood at 98.30 yen (Dh3.65), compared with 97.56 yen late Friday in New York and 96.44 yen in Asia earlier Friday. The US unit sank more than four per cent at one point last week.

The euro traded at $1.3197 (Dh4.85), from $1.3218 late Friday. It was at 129.70 yen from 128.95 yen.

The job report also provided support for US stocks. The Dow jumped 1.38 per cent, the S&P 500 put on 1.28 per cent and the Nasdaq added 1.32 per cent.

Japanese investors took extra cheer from revised figures that showed the economy grew at an annualised rate of 4.1 per cent in January-March, up from an preliminary reading of 3.5 per cent.

Also Monday, official figures showed Japan posted a surplus on its current account for the third straight month in April, as the weaker yen helped boost the value of income from overseas investments.

However, trade figures out of China provided fresh worries for the Asian economic giant.

On Saturday Beijing reported a sharp slowdown in exports in May compared to April, while imports unexpectedly dropped owing to weakness in the domestic economy.

Official data also showed industrial production rose at a slower pace than the previous month while fixed-asset investment also came in below expectations.

“The macro data for May have confirmed that the economy is stuck in stagnant growth again after quite a brief rebound,” Ren Xianfang, senior economist at IHS Global Insight, wrote in a commentary.

Oil prices rose, with New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate for delivery in July, up five cents to $96.08 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for July added three cents to $104.59 in the afternoon.

Gold was at $1,381.96 at 7.20am GMT from $1,411.60 late Friday.

Taipei rose 0.81 per cent, or 65.35 points, to 8,160.55. Hon Hai Precision added 1.33 per cent to Tw$76.2 (Dh9.37) while Nan Ya Plastics was 2.52 per cent higher at Tw$61.0. Wellington finished 0.76 per cent higher, adding 33.53 points to 4,473.38.