Asian markets track Wall Street gains after US jobs data

HONG KONG, April 04: Asian markets edged up Monday following a strong US jobs report with Japan s Nikkei rebounding from last week s sharp sell-off even as the yen strengthened against the dollar.Oil prices fell again after plunging about four percent Friday as Saudi Arabia suggested it could hold off freezing output if other key producers do not follow suit, fuelling worries about a meeting this month to address a global supply glut.Wall Street traders provided a perfect lead for their Asian counterparts, with all three main indexes rallying after the data showed the US economy added more jobs than expected in March while there was also a modest pick-up in hourly wages.
That was followed by a report showing its manufacturing activity increased in March for the first time in six months.The news was the latest to highlight the world s top economy is improving but analysts said it was not so impressive that the Federal Reserve will revise its view that interest rates will not go up before June.”Friday s US labour market report was something of a middling result for markets,” Philip Borkin, a senior economist in Auckland at ANZ Bank New Zealand, said in a client note.”On the one hand it was not really strong enough to suggest inflation pressures are going to run away on the Fed, but on the other, it certainly still showed, together with a rebound in (manufacturing data), that the economy is still performing well overall.”
On Monday, Tokyo s Nikkei — which lost more than three percent Friday — was up 0.2 percent by the break. Sydney added 0.8 percent, Singapore gained 0.4 percent and Wellington put on 0.3 percent. There were also gains in Manila and Jakarta.
Hong Kong, Shanghai and Taipei are closed for a public holiday.- AFP