Asian shares rise as investor focus turns to US payrolls
Asian shares rose on Friday, while the dollar pulled back from a one-month peak as investors took stock of the slew of U.S. economic data that showed a resilient labour market ahead of a crucial non-farm payrolls report due later in the day. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.46% higher after dropping 2.3% on Thursday.
Japan's Nikkei was choppy and last up 0.1%. «Asian equities face challenging trading conditions on Friday,» said market analyst Anderson Alves at ActivTrades, pointing to a risk-off environment after Fitch downgraded its rating of U.S. government by one notch earlier in the week.
«This change has added extra turbulence for Asian risk assets,» Alves said. Chinese blue-chips opened up 0.7%, while the Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.5%. The Hong Kong benchmark Hang Seng surged 1.3% at open.
China's central bank governor pledged on Thursday to guide more financial resources toward the private economy, indicating refreshed urgency from authorities to bolster business sentiment as economic momentum weakens. Overnight, U.S. stocks closed little changed after a choppy trading session, as investors weighed rising Treasury yields with the latest batch of economic data and earnings.
[.N] Data showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefit rose slightly last week, while layoffs dropped to an 11-month low in July as labour market conditions remain tight. «U.S. stock markets may be entering a correction phase after a multi-month rally,» said markets analyst Tina Teng at CMC Markets.
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