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GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia stocks quiet, dollar firm after upbeat U.S. job data

Published 04/02/2019, 02:04 pm
Updated 04/02/2019, 02:10 pm
© Reuters.  GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia stocks quiet, dollar firm after upbeat U.S. job data
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* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4

* Stocks subdued after Wall St's mixed Friday performance

* Dollar supported by stronger-than-expected US jobs report

* China markets closed all week for Lunar New Year

By Shinichi Saoshiro

TOKYO, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Asia stocks hovered near four-month highs on Monday after a mixed performance on Wall Street at the close of last week, while the dollar firmed against the yen following strong U.S. job and manufacturing data.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was almost flat. It had scaled a four-month peak on Friday along with a surge in its global peers.

Trade was subdued with many of the region's markets closed for the Lunar New Year. China's financial markets are closed all week, while those in South Korea are shut until Thursday.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng .HSI , which is trading for only half a day, edged up 0.2 percent.

Japan's Nikkei .N225 added 0.5 percent.

On Wall Street on Friday optimism from a surge in January U.S. job growth was offset by a weaker-than-expected outlook from Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O that battered retail stocks. The Dow .DJI nudged up 0.26 percent while the Nasdaq .IXIC shed 0.25 percent. .N

"Key points for the markets this week will be how the remaining U.S. corporate earnings releases turn out, and whether they are in line with recent upbeat data," said Junichi Ishikawa, senior FX strategist at IG Securities in Tokyo.

"While corporate earnings and fundamentals remain key, political developments, notably the U.S.-China trade situation, remain potential risk factors," he said.

A U.S. Labor Department report on Friday showed nonfarm payrolls jumped by a stronger-than-forecast 304,000 jobs last month, the largest gain since February 2018. report, along with better-than-expected ISM manufacturing activity numbers for January, pointed to underlying strength in the world's biggest economy. last week's risk appetite revival, the data pulse and the tone of Fed speakers will be important. For the Goldilocks market to continue, we need to find a delicate balance between improving data and still-neutral central banks," strategists at ANZ wrote.

Global equity markets performed strongly last week after the Federal Reserve pledged to be patient with further interest rate hikes, signalling a potential end to its tightening cycle.

Friday's robust economic data triggered a sharp rebound in U.S. Treasury yields, in turn lifting the dollar.

On Monday, the U.S. currency was a shade higher at 109.555 yen JPY= after advancing 0.6 percent on Friday.

The euro was little changed at $1.1456 EUR= after getting pulled back from a high of $1.1488 on Friday.

The Australian dollar was mostly steady at $0.7244 AUD=D4 after slipping 0.4 percent the previous session.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield was at 2.686 percent US10YT=RR after climbing nearly 6 basis points on Friday to pull away from a four-week low of 2.619 percent earlier last week.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) U.S. crude oil futures CLc1 extended Friday's rally and were last up 0.3 percent at $55.42 per barrel.

On Friday, WTI futures had rallied 2.7 percent on the upbeat U.S. job report, signs that Washington's sanctions on Venezuelan exports have helped tighten supply and data showing U.S. drillers cut the number of oil rigs. O/R

(Editing by Richard Borsuk & Kim Coghill)

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