INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
TOKYO: Asia stocks were barely moved on Monday, staying near a four-month high after Wall Street's tepid pre-weekend performance, while the
dollar was supported against the yen following strong US jobs and manufacturing data.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside
Japan was basically unchanged, capped below the four-month peak scaled on Friday.
South Korea's KOSPI dipped 0.6 per cent while Japan's
Nikkei added 0.4 per cent.
China's financial markets are closed all week for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Wall Street ended mixed on Friday,
as optimism from a surge in January US job growth was offset by a weaker-than-expected outlook from Amazon.com Inc that battered retail
stocks.
The Dow nudged up 0.26 per cent while the Nasdaq shed 0.25 per cent.
"Key points for the markets this week will be how the remaining
US corporate earnings releases turn out, and whether they are in line with recent upbeat data," said Junichi Ishikawa, senior FX strategist
at IG Securities in Tokyo.
"While corporate earnings and fundamentals remain key, political developments, notably the US-China trade
situation, remain potential risk factors," he said.
A US Labor Department report on Friday showed nonfarm payrolls jumped by a
stronger-than-forecast 304,000 jobs last month, the largest gain since February 2018.
That report, along with better-than-expected ISM
manufacturing activity numbers for January, pointed to underlying strength in the world's biggest economy.
The robust economic data
triggered a sharp rebound in US Treasury yields, in turn lifting the dollar.
On Monday, the US currency was a shade higher at 109.55 yen
after advancing 0.6 per cent on Friday.
The euro was little changed at $1.1455 after getting pulled back from a high of $1.1488 on
Friday.
The Australian dollar was steady at $0.7250 after slipping 0.4 per cent the previous session.
The benchmark 10-year US Treasury
yield was at 2.691 per cent after climbing nearly 6 basis points on Friday to pull away from a four-week low of 2.619 per cent earlier last
week.
US crude oil futures inched down 0.04 per cent to $55.24 per barrel after surging 2.7 per cent on Friday.
Oil prices had rallied on
the upbeat US jobs report, signs that Washington's sanctions on Venezuelan exports have helped tighten supply and data showing US drillers
cut the number of oil rigs
