The vehicles are reflected in a window as the electronic boards display stock information on the Australian stock exchange, operated by ASX.
Lisa Maree | Bloomberg | Getty Images
SINGAPORE – Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Monday, while investors reacted to last week’s US jobs report, which exceeded expectations and fueled hopes for a faster economic recovery.
Australian shares were green, but resumed some of their previous gains. The ASX 200 reference value increased by 1.06% as most sectors traded more, with the highly weighted financial sub-index adding 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 gained 2.63%.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.21% as banking stocks advanced. Shares of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group gained 3.31%, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group added 2.48% and Nomura shares rose 4.2%. Elsewhere, the Topix index added 0.46%.
Meanwhile, Kospi in South Korea gave up previous gains to trade down 0.32%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell 1.43%, while the Hang Seng Tech index fell 3.77%.
Shares in mainland China also fell: the Shanghai composite fell 0.2%, while the Shenzhen component lost 1%.
Monday’s session in the Asia-Pacific followed a wild day in US markets last Friday, in which equities screamed after a sharp sell-off, as a non-firmly stronger wage ratio than expected improved optimism for an economic recovery. faster.
“Investors remain cautious about the impact of the massive Biden tax experiment on longer-term interest rates, which will create a fragile environment for action,” ANZ Research analysts said in a morning note on Monday. . “This defensiveness may prevail in the mid-March meeting (Federal Open Market Committee).”
US aid package
The U.S. Senate passed a $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus aid package over the weekend, which includes direct payments of up to $ 1,400 to most Americans. The bill is expected to pass in the House of Commons held this week and sent to President Joe Biden for signature before the March 14 deadline to renew unemployment benefits.
Last month, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell told lawmakers that the US economy is far from its employment and inflation targets and will likely take time to make substantial progress. He said inflation is still “mild” and that the Fed is committed to current policy, which means interest rates will remain low for the time being.