Asian stocks finish ahead as investors look to U.S. employment report

Lola Evans
05 Aug 2022, 17:29 GMT+10

Stocks in Asia rose on Friday ahead of U.S. payroll data due to be released later in the day.
"We're waiting to see a slowdown in the labour market, so if we get a large miss, it will finally confirm the labour market is slowing."
"The bond market is saying there is a pretty high chance of recession, while the equity market is focused on the labour data."

SYDNEY, NSW, Australia - Stocks in Asia rose on Friday ahead of U.S. payroll data due to be released later in the day. The U.S. dollar was mixed while bond yields eased.

"We're waiting to see a slowdown in the labour market, so if we get a large miss, it will finally confirm the labour market is slowing, and we'll see some more rallies in U.S. treasuries," Prashant Bhayani, chief investment officer for Asia at BNP Paribas Wealth Management told Reuters Thomson Friday.

"The bond market is saying there is a pretty high chance of recession, while the equity market is focused on the labour data, said Bhayani.

The Australian All Ordinaries increased 42.80 points or 0.59 percent to 7,250.30.

South Korea's Kospi Composite rose 17.69 points or 0.72 percent to 2,490.80.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 added 243.67 points or 0.87 percent to 28,175.87.

China's Shanghai Composite strengthened 37.99 points or 1.19 percent to 3,227.03.

Going against the trend, New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 dipped 7.00 points or 0.06 percent to 11,728,47.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng firmed 27.90 points or 0.14 percent to 20,201.94.

On foreign exchange markets, demand for the U.S. dollar wavered. The rose strengthened to 1.02 33 by the Sydney close Thursday. The British pound slipped slightly to 1.2139. The Japanese yen was little changed at 0.9556, as was the Swiss franc at 0.9556.

The Canadian dollar edged down to 1.2875. The Australian dollar softened to 0.6958. The New Zealand dollar was slightly off at 0.6289.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Nasdaq Composite rose 52.42 points or 0.41 percent to 12,720.88.

The Dow Jones industrials declined 85.68 points or 0.26 percent to 32,726.82.

The Standard and Poor's 500 slipped 3.22 points or 0.08 percent to 4,151.95.

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