Asian stocks advanced as investors await a U.S. jobs report

Asian stocks advanced as investors await a U.S. jobs report for clues on the Federal Reserve’s policy-tightening path due Friday ahead of a long weekend in America. The yen dropped for a third day this week.

Equities rose in Tokyo, Sydney and Hong Kong after the MSCI Asia Pacific Index completed its eighth straight month of gains and nudged closer to its highest in almost a decade. The dollar was steady after declining on weak inflation data and as U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said a weaker currency is “somewhat better” for trade. Australian bond yields fell with those on U.S. Treasuries. Gasoline continued its march upwards to the highest level in more than two years amid the impact of Harvey.

U.S. consumer spending increased by less than estimated in July, though rising incomes and an upward revision to June purchases put the economy on a stable footing for the second half. The focus now turns to jobs data on Friday for more clarity on the next move in interest rates from the Fed. The latest economic statistics reinforced that price pressures remain benign, while GDP and jobs growth are robust.

In Asia, Caixin’s China PMI beat estimates to rise to the highest since February, underscoring sound growth as the backdrop of the once-every-five years Communist Party Congress that will be held on Oct. 18 in Beijing, where delegates plot China’s course over the next five years.

Asian equities are poised to advance for a third week as investors shrugged off geopolitical concerns after North Korea lobbed a missile over Japan. Risk appetite returned as diplomatic efforts to contain the hermit kindgom’s nuclear program continue.

Here are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

· Japan’s Topix index rose 0.2 percent as of 2:30 p.m. Tokyo time. The Kospi index in South Korea fell less than 0.1 percent and Australia’s main gauge rose 0.1 percent.

· Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong climbed 0.1 percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.2 percent.

· Contracts on the S&P 500 were up less than 0.1 percent after the underlying measure rose 0.6 percent.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.2 percent.

Currencies

· The yen fell less than 0.1 percent to 110.09 per dollar after rising 0.2 percent.

· The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1 percent after losing 0.2 percent.

· The euro fell to $1.1893 after climbing to near the strongest since 2015.

Bonds

· The yield on 10-year Treasuries was steady at 2.12 percent. It fell 18 basis points last month.

· The Australian 10-year bond yield fell five basis points to 2.66 percent.

· The Bank of Japan cut back on purchases of debt maturing in three-to-five years at its first bond-buying operation for September as yields fell. The benchmark 10-year bond yield fell on Tuesday to the zero percent level the BOJ targets, following North Korea’s launch of a missile over Japan.

Commodities

· West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 0.6 percent to $46.94 a barrel.

· Gold lost 0.2 percent to $1,319.26 an ounce after capping its best month since January.

· Gasoline for September advanced on Thursday for an eighth day, up 14 percent to $2.1399 a gallon. Earlier, the front-month contract touched the highest since July 2015. The October contract fell 0.6 percent to $1.7695 a gallon.

Source: Bloomberg

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