Asian Stocks Rise as Easing Inflation Fears Lower Odds of Another Fed Rate Hike
TOKYO — Asian markets moved higher Monday as investors prepared for a week packed with key U.S. economic data.
A cooling outlook for inflation has eased concerns that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates again, helping lift sentiment across the region.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 led the advance, climbing 2.5% to 70,037.61 in morning trading. The index crossed the 70,000 mark for the first time in three months.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.1% to reach 8,691.90, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was little changed at 23,971.55.
Markets in Shanghai and South Korea were shut for national holidays.
Artificial intelligence-linked stocks attracted strong demand. Tokyo Electron rose 5.5% in Japan, while shares of technology investor SoftBank Group advanced 3.3%.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., widely known as TSMC, gained 2.6%.
The gains followed a strong finish on Wall Street last week, when U.S. stocks closed near record territory after fresh labor-market data helped reduce fears that inflation could accelerate.
The S&P 500 rose 0.7%, ending within 1% of the record it established in August. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.2%.
According to the U.S. government, employers added 29,000 more jobs to their payrolls last month than they eliminated. The figure fell short of economists’ forecasts and marked a sharp slowdown from August’s net gain of 133,000 jobs.
Investors interpreted the weaker hiring figures as a sign that the Federal Reserve may be less inclined to lift its benchmark interest rate. The central bank recently increased its main rate for the first time in three years as it sought to contain steep increases in living costs.
Reduced expectations for an October rate increase also brought some relief to the bond market.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note briefly fell below 5.17%, retreating from Thursday’s peak of roughly 5.35%. Longer-term yields had then approached their highest levels in two decades.
The 10-year yield later recovered to 5.28%, more than 0.10 percentage points above its session low. That rebound helped limit the earlier gains in U.S. equities.
In energy markets, U.S. benchmark crude fell 1.03% to $90.17 per barrel. Brent crude, the global benchmark, slipped 0.58% to $101.66 a barrel.
Oil prices have swung sharply as traders assess how the war with Iran could alter the global energy industry.
In Asian currency trading Monday, the U.S. dollar strengthened to 157.97 Japanese yen from 157.83 yen. The euro fell to $1.1179 from $1.1257.
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Yuri Kageyama is on Threads:
