Asian shares
edged higher on Friday and oil prices continued to rebound, but
investors remained wary ahead of the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for
January later in the session.
MSCI's broadest index
of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up about 0.1 percent, on track
for a weekly gain of more than 1 percent. Japan's Nikkei stock average
ended up 0.8 percent but marked a slight weekly loss, after shedding 1
percent on Thursday.
Financial spreadbetters expected a modestly weaker start to European trading, with Britain's FTSE 100 seen opening 14 to 16 points lower, or down 0.2 percent; Germany's DAX expected to open 18 to 19 points lower, or down 0.2 percent; and France's CAC 40 estimated to open 11 to 13 points lower, or down 0.3 percent.
"European
equities are set to drift lower as traders prepare for today's U.S.
jobs number," Jonathan Sudaria, a dealer at Capital Spreads, said in a
note.
"Traders will be hoping for a Goldilocks number just above 200k, showing that the U.S. economy is ticking over nicely, but not roaring ahead, as to invoke the Fed to start tightening," he said.
Economists polled by Reuters expected U.S. employers to have taken on 234,000 workers in January, below December's increase of 252,000.
The jobless rate was expected to remain at a 6-1/2-year low of 5.6 percent, while average hourly earnings were forecast to show a rise of 0.3 percent, following the previous month's fall of 0.2 percent.
"The
main focus for the market is whether earnings bounce back as expected,
after last month's surprise drop," said Ayako Sera, market strategist at
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank in Tokyo.
"Another market focus now is Greece, which is a situation that will take time to develop.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras pledged on Thursday to "put an end once and for all" to the European Union's austerity policies and to bargain hard for a new deal for Greece, after the European Central Bank decided to stop accepting Greek bonds as collateral to raise cash.
Greece's new leftist finance minister clashed openly with his powerful German counterpart on Thursday as Athens' borrowing costs leapt and bank shares plunged. The ECB's decision heightened fears about Greece's financial system and the possibility that the country might leave the euro zone.
But Wall Street managed to put worries about Greece on the back burner on Thursday. Major indexes all ended with gains of 1 percent or more, while a rise in U.S. Treasury yields underpinned the U.S. dollar.
Mixed U.S. data on Thursday on jobless claims, productivity and the trade balance gave investors few clues on the overall growth outlook and the timing of the U.S. Federal Reserve's move to raise interest rates, which some believe could be as early as this summer.
Financial spreadbetters expected a modestly weaker start to European trading, with Britain's FTSE 100 seen opening 14 to 16 points lower, or down 0.2 percent; Germany's DAX expected to open 18 to 19 points lower, or down 0.2 percent; and France's CAC 40 estimated to open 11 to 13 points lower, or down 0.3 percent.
"Traders will be hoping for a Goldilocks number just above 200k, showing that the U.S. economy is ticking over nicely, but not roaring ahead, as to invoke the Fed to start tightening," he said.
Economists polled by Reuters expected U.S. employers to have taken on 234,000 workers in January, below December's increase of 252,000.
The jobless rate was expected to remain at a 6-1/2-year low of 5.6 percent, while average hourly earnings were forecast to show a rise of 0.3 percent, following the previous month's fall of 0.2 percent.
"The
main focus for the market is whether earnings bounce back as expected,
after last month's surprise drop," said Ayako Sera, market strategist at
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank in Tokyo."Another market focus now is Greece, which is a situation that will take time to develop.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras pledged on Thursday to "put an end once and for all" to the European Union's austerity policies and to bargain hard for a new deal for Greece, after the European Central Bank decided to stop accepting Greek bonds as collateral to raise cash.
Greece's new leftist finance minister clashed openly with his powerful German counterpart on Thursday as Athens' borrowing costs leapt and bank shares plunged. The ECB's decision heightened fears about Greece's financial system and the possibility that the country might leave the euro zone.
But Wall Street managed to put worries about Greece on the back burner on Thursday. Major indexes all ended with gains of 1 percent or more, while a rise in U.S. Treasury yields underpinned the U.S. dollar.
Mixed U.S. data on Thursday on jobless claims, productivity and the trade balance gave investors few clues on the overall growth outlook and the timing of the U.S. Federal Reserve's move to raise interest rates, which some believe could be as early as this summer.
No comments:
Post a Comment