Asian Shares Rise after US Jobs Data Reported

Asian shares rose to a strong start to the week after the latest US jobs data report. The economy added the biggest number of jobs in over 1-1/2 years in February. Thus, easing fears of inflation and faster rate hikes.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 closed higher at 1.77%. Gains in the Machinery, Food, and Construction sectors pushed Asian shares higher.

The best performers of the session were Eisai Co Ltd, which gained 7.58% to close at 6786.0. Meidensha Corp rose 5.85% to end at 398.0, and Kubota Corp added 4.98% to 1906.0 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Kobe Steel Ltd, which dropped 5.67% to close at 1048.5. Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc fell 2.75% to end at 389.5, while Mitsubishi Motors Corp plunged 2.18% to 762.5.

The broder Topix added 1.51%, with gains experienced across all of the index’s 33 sectors despite a buildup of a possible cronyism scandal in the country.

Elsewhere, MSCI’s broadest index of Asian shares outside Japan rose 1.1% for a 3rd session of gains.

In Seoul, the benchmark Kospi index climbed 1% to close at 2,484.12, its highest levels in around 5 weeks as manufacturing and tech names scored gains.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.93% to finish at 31,594.33, as energy and tech companies led gains.

In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite closed higher by 0.58% to close at 3,326.33. The Shenzhen Composite ended 1.24% higher at 1,908.84.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 jumped 0.55% to finish at 5,996.10. Materials and energy sub-indexes led gains, but gold producers plunged 1.88%.

New Zealand’s S&P/NZX-50 index advanced 0.88% to end at 8,463.99. Singapore’s Straits Times index rallied 1.7%, despite government report showed the country’s retail sales dropped at a faster-than-expected rate in January.

US Jobs Data Provides Ease for Investors’ Worries over Inflation

Inflation fears faded on Friday after US data showed non-farm payrolls rose 313,000 jobs last month. But annual growth in average hourly earnings declined 2.6% after a spike in January.

The pullback in wages fueled speculation the Federal Reserve would expect 4 rate hikes at its policy meeting next week, instead of the current 3.

Wall Street reacted positively with the data, as the Dow advanced 1.77%, the S&P 500 climbed 1.74%, and the Nasdaq jumped 1.79%.

Meanwhile in commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude declined 0.6% to $61.68 a barrel. Gold dropped 0.3% to $1.319.50 an ounce, the weakest in more than a week.