Investing.com - Markets across the Asian-Pacific were mostly positively on Monday, following Wall Street's upbeat close last week as investors reacted favorably to a strong US jobs report despite the uncertainty surrounding a surprise conflict erupting in Israel over the weekend.
By 11:15am AEDT (12:15am GMT) S&P/ASX 200 added 0.5%, KOSPI 200 Futures lifted 0.1% while the Nikkei 225 Futures dipped 0.8%.
In terms of commodities, Brent crude oil increased by 3.7% to US$84.58 a barrel, while gold lifted 0.8%.
On the bond markets, the yield on Australian 2 Year government bonds fell to 3.99%, and the Australia 10-Year yield also decreased to 4.538%. US Treasury notes saw an increase, with the United States 2-Year yield at 5.08% and the 10 Year yield at 4.743%.
Among currencies, the Australian dollar fell by 0.2%, while the {{2138|Indonesian Rupiah} Thai Baht and Japanese Yen strengthened between 0.1% and 0.2%. The Korean Won and Vietnamese Dong remained flat.
In Asia, Hong Kong shares were led higher by tech and property stocks, while the Nikkei 225 Stock Average in Japan closed 0.3% lower. India's benchmark Sensex rose 0.55% to close at 65995.63, boosted by the Reserve Bank of India's unchanged stance on policy rates.
European stocks also saw an increase, with the pan-European STOXX 600 index up 0.5% at 443.73. Germany's DAX rose 0.7%, and France's CAC 40 was up 0.5%. The FTSE 100 index in the UK closed Friday up 0.6% to 7494 points.
In North America, stocks rallied after the release of the robust US jobs report. The S&P 500 rose 1.2%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.9%, and the NASDAQ Composite was 1.6% higher. The S&P 500 managed a 0.5% weekly gain, ending a four-week losing streak. The index is now down 6% from its July high, with its annual gain reduced to 12%.
Traders now predict a 32% chance of another Fed rate hike at its November meeting, up from 20% before the jobs report was released. Among individual stocks, Pioneer Natural Resources Co (NYSE:PXD) was the S&P 500's best performer on Friday, adding 10% after reports of Exxon Mobil Corp's (NYSE:XOM) impending purchase of the shale driller.