Stocks in the Asian region were seen starting the week trading higher on Monday, led by the Japanese stocks as the nation’s yen weakened against the US dollar after the US payrolls report boosted confidence in the world’s largest economy.
The US employment report released on Friday showed the US economy added 248,000 non-farm jobs in September, surpassing analysts’ forecast of a 216,000 increase. The report also unveiled that unemployment reached a six-year low of 5.9%.
The upbeat US payrolls report boosted confidence in the world’s largest economy, lifting US stocks on Friday and the greenback against its major peers. The report also showed signs that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) may begin to increase interest rates sooner than expected as it ends its asset purchases, however some analysts said the report was not strong enough to guarantee an interest-rate hike.
China’s Mainland index markets were closed on Monday in celebration of National Day, meanwhile in Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng index edged 0.47% to 23,175.78 points while pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong eased on Monday as many civil servants return to work.
The Japanese Nikkei 225 index came in at 1.57% to trade at 15,955.33 points at the time of writing, while Tokyo’s Topix index advanced 1.47% to 1,301.37 points at the same time.
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The weaker yen sent Japanese stock gains higher, as the nation yen traded around 109.6 against the US dollar on Monday. Auto stocks saw gains, with Hino Motors up by 2.90%, Mitsubishi Motors gained 1.18% and Nissan Motor rose 1.93%.
The South Korean Kospi index declined 0.28% to 1.970.69 points.
Some of the markets in Australia were shut on Monday in celebration of Labour Day, while the nation’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.48% to close at 5,292.90 points. Mining giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto were down by 2.18% and 2.16% respectively, while gold miner Northern star Resources lost by more than 11%.
European stocks rose on Monday as traders keep an eye on further data from the Euro-block and the US during the week.
The European Euro Stoxx 50 rose 0.95% higher to open at 3,171.50, while the German DAX added 1.59% to 9,342.80. In France, the benchmark started at 0.45% to 4,295.70 and the UK’s FTSE 100 edged 0.23% to start at 6,540.50.
In other news, Germany reported a drop in factory orders to 5.7% in August on a monthly basis and a decline of 1.3% when measured on a yearly basis.
Other reports expected to be released later in the week are industrial production reports from Germany, UK, Spain, Italy and France.
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