Yahoo Finance
SINGAPORE, July 3 (Reuters) - Stocks rose during the Asian trading session on Friday after a lukewarm U.S.
jobs report poured cold water on the prospect of an imminent rate hike from the Federal Reserve and regional activity gauges pointed to an economic expansion during June.
After a shaky start, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 2.2% following two consecutive days of declines.
South Korea's Kospi swung between gains and losses, before surging more than 6% as buyers pounced on battered chipmaker stocks.
S&P 500 e-mini futures rose 0.4%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 reversed early losses to trade 1.2% higher.
Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) data released on Friday indicated increased activity across the region.
Japan's services sector returned to expansion in June after stalling the previous month, while China's services activity expanded at a slightly slower pace but overseas demand rose at the fastest rate in 20 months.
"The PMIs remain healthy by recent standards and still imply stronger economic momentum across Q2 as a whole," analysts from Capital Economics said of the Chinese data.
job growth slowed sharply in June and payroll gains for the prior two months were revised lower, according to data released on Thursday, pointing to a cooling labour market.
The unemployment rate dropped to 4.2% last month from 4.3% in May as workers left the labour force, pushing the participation rate to the lowest level in more than five years.
"The figures challenged the narrative that the Fed remains on track to hike in the second half of this year," Westpac analysts wrote in a research report.
The tepid jobs data doused traders' expectations of an imminent rate hike and raised the odds that the Fed will keep rates on hold until October.
| Product | Price | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Crude | $102.14/bbl | +0.34% |
| WTI Crude | $96.90/bbl | +0.21% |
| EN590 Diesel | $846/MT | +0.18% |
| Jet Fuel A-1 | $1090/MT | +0.55% |
| Mazut M100 | $450/MT | -0.15% |
| Bitumen 60/70 | $470/MT | +0.08% |
| Sulphur Gran 99.5% | $470/MT | -0.44% |
| Urea 46% Gran | $650/MT | +1.12% |
| NPK 16-16-16 | $460/MT | -0.28% |
| Nat Gas TTF | $15.42/MMBtu | +0.92% |
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