Asian Stocks Mostly Up; Topix Rises on Weaker Yen

Most Asian stocks claw back last week’s losses, with a falling yen driving Japanese shares rally, as investors weighed the impact of the American jobs report and the path for U.S. monetary policy tightening.

Equities in Tokyo and Sydney climbed while South Korean shares dropped, with traders in the Asia Pacific region taking their first chance to react to worse-than-forecast U.S. hiring data. The yen weakened against the dollar for a third straight day, while the South Korean won extended its losing streak to a fifth day. Australian government bonds fell with gold. Oil added to last week’s rally.

Financial markets are showing resilience in the face of Friday’s weaker employment figures for the world’s largest economy and a ratcheting up of geopolitical tensions, with demand for haven assets abating. While the jobs report was weaker than some had expected, it’s consistent with the U.S. economy growing at two percent this year, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said in Melbourne Monday. Corporate results ramp up this week with earnings due from the likes of JPMorgan Chase & Co., Tesco Plc and Prada SpA.

Here are the main moves in markets:

Currencies

· The yen slid 0.3 percent to 111.45 per dollar as of 12:46 p.m. in Tokyo. South Korea’s won dropped 0.7 percent, sinking for a fifth straight day, the longest losing streak this year.

· The Aussie fell 0.2 percent after February home-loan data was weaker than expected.

· The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1 percent, after advancing 0.3 percent on Friday.

Stocks

· The Topix index rose 0.6 percent, advancing for a second day, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.6 percent. The Hang Seng index was little changed and South Korea’s Kospi index declined 0.8 percent. The Shanghai Composite slipped 0.3 percent.

· Futures on the S&P 500 added 0.2 percent. The underlying gauge lost 0.3 percent last week.

Bonds

· The yield on 10-year Australian government bonds rose four basis points to 2.59 percent.

· The yield on 10-year Treasuries held at 2.39 percent.

Commodities

· Gold dropped 0.1 percent to $1,253.35 per ounce.

· Oil climbed for a fifth day, rising 0.3 percent to $52.37 a barrel.

· Iron ore futures slipped 1 percent after falling into a bear market on Friday.



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