Asia stocks rise as U.S. jobs data unexpectedly rebounds

Asia stocks were higher on Monday after U.S. jobs data released Friday showed an unexpected jump, spurring hopes of an economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 added 1.37% to close at 23,178.10 as shares of robot maker Fanuc gained 4.01%. The Topix index also rose 1.13% to end its trading day at 1,630.72.

Mainland Chinese stocks edged higher on the day, with the Shanghai composite up 0.24% to around 2,937.77 while the Shenzhen component rose 0.314% to 11,215.76. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was fractionally higher, as of its final hour of trading.

Over in South Korea, the Kospi closed 0.11% higher at 2,184.29.

Meanwhile in New Zealand, shares of Air New Zealand skyrocketed 9.15% after the firm announced a target to return to “healthy profits” by late August 2022. Over in Singapore, shares of Singapore Airlines shed earlier gains to drop 1.62% in afternoon trade, with the moves coming after the company announced it had raised more than 10 billion Singapore dollars ($7.18 billion) in fresh liquidity.

Those moves followed a general rise in airline stocks regionally, with Japan Airlines’ stock in Japan gained about 3% while Korean Air Lines in South Korea rose 0.49%. Elsewhere, Hong Kong-listed shares of China Southern Airlines were up 3.66% in afternoon trade. Cathay Pacific, however, lagged as it fell 1.35%.

Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index rose about 0.3%.