Asian stocks rise as dollar holds losses before payrolls report
By Bloomberg
Japanese and South Korean stocks rose and the dollar held losses against most peers before a U.S. jobs report. Australia’s dollar fell to its weakest level versus the New Zealand currency in at least 30 years
The Topix index added 0.3 percent by 9:11 a.m. in Tokyo, while South Korea’s Kospi index rose 0.1 percent. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index were little changed. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed after sliding 0.6 percent Thursday. The Aussie fell to as low as NZ$1.0095, the lowest since the currency was floated. Markets across Asia, the U.S. and Europe are closed for holidays Friday.
U.S. employers probably added 245,000 people to non-farm payrolls in March, while the unemployment rate held at an almost seven-year low, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg. A miss on the payrolls report would “throw a wrench” in Federal Reserve plans for increasing rates around mid-year, Bloomberg economists Carl Riccadonna and Joshua Wright wrote in a note yesterday.
“We’re likely to be in a wait-and-see mode today” before the jobs report and given the holidays, Juichi Wako, a senior strategist at Nomura Holdings Inc. in Tokyo, said by phone. “There are few reasons for stocks to move solely based on domestic reasons.”
Twenty of the 33 industry groups on the Topix advanced today as the yen traded little changed at 119.66 per dollar. Construction companies led gains in Seoul. Equity markets in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore are shut.
Oil-futures aren’t trading in New York or London Friday. Brent crude tumbled 3.8 percent after Iran and world powers said they reached an outline accord over nuclear arms.
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