HONG KONG (Thomson Financial) - Asian stocks were mostly higher Monday, with
Australia and Shanghai tracking gains on Wall Street on Friday as a
better-than-expected U.S. jobs report boosted optimism that the world's largest
economy is recovering and has dodged a dreaded recession.
Hong Kong's benchmarks pulled back as investors locked in gains after
Friday's rally.
Wall Street on Friday was higher after the latest non-farm payroll data
showed 20,000 jobs were lost in April, much less than the expected loss of
75,000 jobs.
"The big global banks successfully raising money and improving their capital
position has certainly led to an improvement in sentiment but we're still
wrestling with a slowing U.S. economy," said Justin Gallagher, head of sales
trading at ABN Amro.
"We haven't seen any huge blowups, which I think has changed the view a
little, but there's still an air of caution in the market -- there's no doubt
about that," he said.
Australian shares were higher led by resources stocks following a rebound in
commodity prices on Friday.
The S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.5 percent to 5,730.3 and the All Ordinaries was up
0.7 percent at 5,797.7.
Index leader BHP Billiton added 1.6 percent to A$44.12 while Rio Tinto
gained 0.5 percent to A$138.95.
Crude oil prices rose on Friday after three days of declines with investors
encouraged by the better-than-expected jobs report. The June Nymex crude oil
quote ended trade up $3.80 or 3.4 percent at $116.32 a barrel.
Australian oil and gas sector leader Woodside Petroleum added 3.9 percent to
A$59.22.
Oil stocks in Hong Kong and Shanghai were also higher.
PetroChina gained 0.2 percent to HK$12.10 in Hong Kong and was up 0.6
percent at 18.17 yuan in Shanghai.
CNOOC Ltd rose 2 percent to HK$13.62 in Hong Kong.
The Hang Seng Index turned lower after investors locked in profits in select
blue chips following a recent rally.
The Shanghai Composite index rose 1.8 percent to 3,761.01.
Markets in South Korea and Japan are closed for the holidays.
Singapore's Straits Times Index gained 0.7 percent to 3,257.34, while
Malaysia's composite index was up 0.2 percent at 1,274.27, helped by the rebound
in palm oil stocks.
Sime Darby, the world's largest palm oil company and the biggest stock on
the Malaysian bourse, was 1.6 percent higher at 9.45 ringgit and Kuala Lumpur
Kepong, which owns sizeable plantation estates in Malaysia and Indonesia, firmed
1.2 percent to 16.90 ringgit.
The Jakarta index gained 1.2 percent to 3,371.16.
Philippine shares were firmer led by market heavyweights Philippine Long
Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) and Globe Telecom Inc. on hopes that their
quarterly results, due out this week, will show sustained healthy growth.
The market's upturn also mirrored easing concerns about the U.S. economy.
The Philippine composite index closed up 1.1 percent at 2,752.93.
PLDT rose 2.4 percent to 2,610 pesos. The country's biggest company by
market value will release its first-quarter results on Tuesday.
Globe, which will release its numbers not later than Wednesday, advanced 0.8
percent to 1,325 pesos.
leonora.walet@thomsonreuters.com
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