TOKYO: Japanese stocks rose after a U.S. jobs report missed estimates, fueling speculation the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates lower for longer.
SoftBank Group Corp. was the biggest boost to the Topix index, jumping 5.5 percent. Iron and steel producers rose after Credit Suisse Group AG said infrastructure-related steel companies are attractive amid concern about the global economy, with Kyoei Steel Ltd. advancing 7.1 percent. Tokyo Electron Ltd. added 1.5 percent after the Nikkei newspaper said first-half operating profit probably rose by 80 percent. Warehouse companies led declines among the 33 Topix industry groups, with Kamigumi Co. sliding 1.4 percent.
The Topix added 1.3 percent to 1,463.37 as of 12:43 p.m. in Tokyo, climbing for a fourth day. The measure dropped 0.6 percent last week. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced 1.4 percent Monday to 17,979.16. The yen weakened 0.1 percent to 120.01 per dollar after strengthening to as high as 118.68 on Friday following data showing U.S. employers added 142,000 workers in September, missing economist predictions for a gain of 201,000.
“Throughout this year we’ve had moments when stocks rose on an increased probability of rate increases in the U.S., but at the end of last week the market saw the probable delay as a positive,” said Shoji Hirakawa, chief equity strategist at Okasan Securities Co. in Tokyo. “I expect Japanese stocks to react positively as well.”
The report also revised down employment gains in the previous two months by a total of 59,000 jobs. The jobless rate held at 5.1 percent, while wage growth was little changed from the prior month.
The probability the Fed will raise rates by its Dec. 15-16 meeting fell to 33 percent from 46 percent before the jobs report, according to futures data compiled by Bloomberg.
E-mini futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.1 percent. The underlying gauge climbed 1.4 percent in New York on Friday, staging its biggest intraday rebound in almost four years, as commodity shares advanced.
