Asia Stocks Scale Near Three-Year High On U.S. Optimism

Asian stocks touched their highest levels in nearly three years on Monday, basking in the glow of a record close on Wall Street after bright U.S. jobs data pointed to improving economic momentum.

Financial spreadbetters expected Britain’s FTSE 100 .FTSE, Germany’s DAX .GDAXI and France’s CAC 40 .FCHI each to open around 0.3 percent higher.

“It’s a reasonably quiet week on the economic calendar front so there’s little for traders to get apprehensive about and play it cautious so we could see the bulls stampede,” Capital Spreads dealer Jonathan Sudaria said in a note to clients, but he warned markets might be growing frothy.

“It’s remarkable how negative traders are feeling about this rally evidenced by the amount of clients that keep betting against it and getting short,” he said.

The dollar continued to benefit from rising U.S. Treasury yields, after U.S. jobs data on Friday showed that nonfarm payrolls increased by 217,000 last month, bringing employment back to its pre-recession level and validating the view that labor conditions are improving. The unemployment rate held steady at a 5-1/2 year low of 6.3 percent.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was up about 0.3 percent, after reaching its highest levels since July 2011.

Japan’s Nikkei stock average .225 advanced 0.4 percent.

On Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI and S&P 500 .SPX ended at new records.

Weekend trade data from China also supported the view of a recovering global economy, with exports gaining steam last month. But the same data also contained some cause for concern, as a surprising drop in imports could herald weaker domestic demand. (Full Story)

China’s yuan rose after the People’s Bank of China unexpectedly fixed its daily midpoint surprisingly higher against the dollar for the second straight session, which in turn gave a lift to other Asian currencies. (Full Story)

China is slated to release industrial output, retail sales and fixed-asset investment data on Friday.

RISING U.S. YIELDS HELP GREENBACK

The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasuries US10YT=RJR stood at 2.611 percent, up from Friday’s U.S. close of 2.597 percent and well above 11-month lows plumbed last month.

By contrast, Italian, Spanish and Irish bond yields fell to record lows on Friday, a day after the European Central Bank unveiled a package of easing steps.

“The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasuries may need to sustain a move back above [the] 2.6 percent area to increase the likelihood of the greenback move through the 102.80 level against the yen,” Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman, said in a note to clients.

For now, the dollar had to be content with a slight gain on the day to buy 102.50 yen JPY=, getting some help early in the session from Japanese current account data.

Japan posted a lower-than-expected surplus in April, as income gains from overseas investments narrowed and the trade deficit widened. Still, it marked the third consecutive month of surpluses. (Full Story)

Other data on Monday showed Japan’s economy grew 1.6 percent in January-March from the previous quarter, revised up from a preliminary 1.5 percent expansion due to faster growth in capital expenditure. (Full Story)

The euro also gained on its Japanese counterpart, edging up slightly to buy 139.85 yen EURJPY=R, after earlier testing its highest levels since mid-May.

Against the greenback, the euro EUR= was steady on the day at $1.3643.

“The series of measures unveiled by the ECB will not start having an impact right away. As such, short covering of euro short positions, which had built up considerably prior to the ECB meeting, is being covered by participants pocketing profits,” said Shinichiro Kadota, chief Japan FX strategist at Barclays in Tokyo.

In commodities, U.S. crude CLc1 gained about 0.2 percent to $102.89 a barrel, underpinned by the solid jobs report that pointed to an improving economy and suggested that oil demand will increase. U.S. crude ended last week almost unchanged.

Brent crude futures LCOc1 edged up 0.1 percent to $108.73, after dropping 0.7 percent last week.

Spot gold XAU= was steady on the day at $1,252.95 an ounce.

Source : Reuters