TOKYO: ASIAN stocks rose, after the regional benchmark index closed Thursday at its lowest in a month, as investors awaited U.S. labor data.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.1 percent to 150.49 as of 9:45 a.m. in Tokyo after ending yesterday at its lowest since April 7. The measure is poised for a 1.6 percent slide this week, its second straight weekly decline.
“There’s very little to drive the markets ahead of the macro data,” said Andrew Sullivan, head of sales trading at Haitong International Securities Group Ltd. in Hong Kong. “We may see some caution into the close. The wage levels will probably be more closely watched for signs of inflation.”
Japan’s Topix index added 0.5 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.6 percent, while New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index increased 0.3 percent. South Korea’s Kospi index lost 0.1 percent. Markets in Hong Kong and China are yet to open.
E-mini futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.1 percent. The underlying equity measure rose 0.4 percent on Thursday in New York as Yahoo! Inc. led a rebound in technology shares.
U.S. employers probably added 228,000 workers to nonfarm payrolls in April, after a 126,000 increase in March, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Federal Reserve policy makers are monitoring labor data to determine the timing of higher borrowing costs after economic growth slowed in the first quarter for reasons the central bank called “transitory.”
David Cameron is on course to remain prime minister at the head of a minority government after the U.K. general election, an exit poll indicated. The Conservatives were forecast to win 316 of Parliament’s 650 seats, with the Labour Party trailing on 239 seats, according to the survey of voters published as polling stations closed at 10 p.m. Thursday. The pound jumped.
Energy shares led losses on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index Friday as oil in New York headed for its first weekly decline since March. – Bloomberg
