TOKYO: Shares started the week on a high note in Asia on Monday after a strong U.S. jobs report helped drive benchmarks higher on Wall Street. A report of weakness in machinery orders in January cast a pall over trading in Tokyo. Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock index rose 0.2 per cent to 19,634.37 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.6 per cent to 23,711.48. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.1 per cent to 2,119.48. The Shanghai Composite index lost 0.1 per cent to 3,210.32 and Australia’s S&P ASX 200 was 0.2 per cent lower at 5,765.80. Shares rose in Taiwan and were mixed in Southeast Asia.
U.S. stocks rose Friday after the strong February jobs report, though investors are waiting for the Federal Reserve’s meeting later in the week. The central bank is almost universally expected to raise interest rates. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose or 0.3 per cent to 2,372.60 and the Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.2 per cent to 20,902.98. The Nasdaq composite added 0.4 per cent to 5,861.73. The government reported that machinery orders fell 10 per cent in January from the month before and “core” orders excluding ships and orders from utilities fell 3.2 per cent.
The data were weaker than forecast, suggesting persisting slow corporate investment in factories inside Japan. “Admittedly, capital goods shipments have rebounded lately and suggest that business investment will continue to recover this quarter. However, a rapid recovery in capital spending looks unlikely,” Marcel Thieliant of Capital Economics said in a commentary. Friday’s ruling by the constitutional Court upholding the impeachment of ousted South Korean President Park Geun-hye helped clear some of the uncertainty that has overhung the market in recent months. The ruling ended a power struggle that had consumed the nation for months. Benchmark U.S. crude oil fell 40 cents to $48.09 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost 79 cents to $48.49 on Friday. Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, lost 35 cents to $51.02.
