Vehicles are reflected in a window while electronic boards display stock information at the Australian Stock Exchange, which is operated by ASX.
Lisa Maree | Bloomberg | Getty Images
SINGAPORE – Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Monday as investors reacted to last week’s U.S. jobs that raised expectations and sparked hopes for a faster economic recovery.
Australian equities were in the green but made up some of their earlier gains. The ASX 200 benchmark climbed 1.06% as most sectors traded higher, with the heavily weighted sub-index for financial addition of 1.05%. Major banking and mining stocks rose: Commonwealth Bank shares rose 1.46%, while Rio Tinto added 3.6%, Fortescue rose 1.13% and BHP 2.63%.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.21% as bank shares advanced. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group’s shares rose 3.31%, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group added 2.48% and Nomura shares rose 4.2%. Elsewhere, the Topix index has added 0.46%.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi had earlier given up gains to trade 0.32%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell 1.43%, while the Hang Seng Tech Index fell 3.77%.
Chinese mainland shares also fell: the Shanghai composition fell by 0.2%, while the Shenzhen component lost by 1%.
Monday’s session in Asia-Pacific follows a wild day in US markets last Friday, with shares bouncing back from a sharp sell-off as a stronger-than-expected non-farm report improves optimism for a faster economic recovery.
“Investors remain wary of the impact that Biden’s massive fiscal experiment will have on longer-term interest rates, which will provide a fragile equity environment,” analysts at ANZ Research said in a morning note. “The defense may rule until the middle of the Federal Public Market Committee meeting.”
US emergency package
The U.S. Senate this weekend approved a $ 1.9 billion coronavirus relief package that includes direct payments of up to $ 1,400 to most Americans. The bill is expected to pass in the Democratic House this week and be sent to President Joe Biden for his signature before a March 14 deadline to renew unemployment benefits.
Last month, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell told lawmakers that the U.S. economy is far from its employment and inflation targets and that it is likely to take time before significant further progress is made. He said inflation was still “soft” and that the Fed was committed to current policies, implying that interest rates were likely to remain low at present.